Safe & Sound
by GinHermi
Summary: Post Afterbirth. "And these many years later, nothing had changed. He was still her secret. The thrilling surge of his memory, her only vice." Violet decides to give herself a day off and be with Tate on the coming Halloween.
1. Slow Life

**A/N: One has to figure that Violet would (canon wise) eventually crack. I mean being stuck for years in that house with parents who are in a lovey dovey state? That would drive anyone to desperation after a while, especially considering the object of her affections is around. That's regardless of him being a psycho killer or not. The way I see it, it would happen starting with just one night. One night that would give both of them a false promise of hope in a world full of chaos (much like the song I've named this fic after). Enjoy.**

Chapter One: Slow Life

"_Even though you're the only one I see_

_It's the last catastrophe_

_Place your bets on chance and apathy._"-Slow Life by Grizzly Bear

* * *

_"And these many years later, nothing had changed. He was still her secret. The thrilling surge of his memory, her only vice."_

Violet had read that in a book she had found in the attic. It wasn't a particularly good book but that quote had stuck out for her. For a moment, she thought the house was telling her exactly what she kept hidden in the deep recesses of her mind and heart. Then she scoffed at her own stupidity. It was just a dust filled book she'd dug up and read out of boredom. No more, no less. Still, it was true; his memory was the only vice she had now that she had been dead for years. She had stopped feeling a rush from cutting and long ago run out of cigarettes so it was the only vice left.

Violet knew that Tate occasionally watched her, so she returned the gesture on a few occasions. After a while, Tate had stopped hiding from her and it wasn't to piss her off. He did it simply because he was tired of hiding and wanted to walk around freely. Because of this and, because of her sick gluttony for punishment, Violet hid and looked at him from time to time.

It was half love, half hate. Her feelings were incredibly complicated. She had gone half mad because of those complications. She had to punish him and she knew it was the right thing to do. Just the same, she longed for him in a manner so violent that it sometimes took her for a spin. Some days the longing was so strong that her chest tightened, her muscles trembled and she had to gulp down heart-broken sobs and wails. Even her torture was complex, she often thought. It was both from wanting him and from the revulsion she felt over everything that he had done. The point was, Violet hadn't expected his punishment to be her punishment as well.

Halloween was getting nearer and Violet couldn't wait. Halloween was the one-day and night a year in which all the souls in the murder house were free of the confines of the hellhole in which they existed. The twenty-four hours during which they could do what they pleased in a better setting and without consequence.

The Harmons had a family day planned out, but the night was completely free for all. Violet had something in mind for that night. She had a hunch as to where Tate would be and she would go there and maybe give in to her urges and reward him a bit. He had, after all, kept true to his word and not come near her again. Hell, once or twice when Hayden had tried to chop her up Tate had somehow, invisibly intervened and gotten the crazy bitch off her back. Despite herself, she had silently thanked him and appreciated his actions.

Violet had promised herself to not acknowledge him in any other way and she was not willing to break her promise to herself. She was, however, willing to make a small exception. If Halloween was their night off, then it would be her night off from her promise to herself as well. Needless to say, if she did find him, she would give in to her temptations to talk to him and…touch him. She craved to touch every inch of his skin, drown in his scent and get lost in the devilish black eyes that made her shiver. That's exactly what she would do, Violet thought, and suddenly she couldn't wait for Halloween.

* * *

Tate was aware that Violet liked to watch him. He always felt her eyes boring into the back of his head, but he knew better than to acknowledge her. She had sent him away and it was simply impossible to say anything to her or even smile and he knew it. For the past couple of years, Tate had been silently watching Violet from time to time. The rest of the time, he spent alone repenting for everything he had done or begging for forgiveness from the three people in the house that hadn't forgiven him.

The exterminator guy had forgiven him quickly enough because for some reason (one he didn't want to dwell upon) he had said that he understood why he had done it. _Well fuck_, he thought, _some people are more twisted than they appear. _Ben let it go after a while seeing as he was one of the few ghosts that actually talked to Tate for a long period of time. Ben figured that a repenting, slightly depressed psychopath who stopped committing crimes was better than a psychopath who kept killing. That being said the other three other people he had harmed that were currently living in the Murder House weren't as forgiving. Chad and Patrick were even more bitter now that they both knew that the relationship they had once shared was completely one sided; as such they weren't particularly interested in hearing Tate's attempted apologies. Vivien, on the contrary, wasn't bitter at all; she was quite happy with the life she was living, but she wasn't quite yet ready to forgive someone who had raped her and consequently caused her death. She did say, however, that if he kept apologizing and truly meant it ("As it seems you are", Vivien noted), then she would eventually forgive him.

Tate knew, however, that all this apologizing wasn't going to make Violet take him back. He just felt that he had to do it for her. Apologizing was something to do…something that reminded him of her, and he would cling to those memories of her like a starving man would to a small piece of bread. All the atonement in the world would never free him from his prison. He would never again have Violet in his arms, looking at him with stars in her eyes. He lived in what he considered a sentence of six lifetimes in the Bastille for all he had done. Certainly, the sentence he would be serving had the cops not killed him back in '94 would have been just as long.

Halloween was in a few weeks and, strangely, he was happy about it. Halloween was his equivalent of yard time. He could experience a bit of freedom and be free of Hayden. That vengeful bitch just wanted to get in his pants and murder him all the time. He got sick of having her back off without killing her again. Actually, he was just plain sick of her. A bit of time away from Hayden and away from the house would do him some good.

Tate would happily spend the night at the beach, lie back, relax and take in the ocean. The day never interested him much but he would spend it outside the house anyway. He had some people to talk to and apologize to (quite frankly he was willing to let them ax him to pieces) and then he planned to do something small for Violet that he hoped would make her smile. Even if those he had murdered didn't forgive him, he would have at least confronted them earnestly. He knew Violet would have wanted that. Besides, even if he couldn't be with Violet, it didn't mean he couldn't do something for her. He hoped the two gestures he was going to do worked their magic.

Frankly, saving her from Hayden had been the most he could've done for her under the circumstances of his exile. Despite that that was the only thing he could do for her, he was also aware that it annoyed her. Because of this he kept it at a minimum. The small detail he was planning on going through with this year would, hopefully, be seen as a good gesture. Hopefully, it would put a smile on her face again.

Tate sat in the basement, his eyes closed and a smile upon his face as he thought about all the good that Violet would encounter on Halloween. After all, no matter what happened: "I care about your feelings more than mine." He whispered those words to the basement. The sentence rang true after all these years. Honestly, was it too much to ask that she let herself see him just once? To let him near her?

Ironically, Tate was blithely unaware of the fact that he and Violet would have a night together once more on that very Halloween.

* * *

Chapter Two: Halloween Part One

_Tonight's the night_, thought Violet nervously and excitedly as she finished getting dressed and walked downstairs to go out with her family for the day. The day was cool and a sunny blue sky shined bright. Violet was glad to be spending it with her mom, dad and brother. She met them on the porch.

"There she is!"-Said Vivien with a smile.

"Ready to go?"-Ben asked.

Violet nodded and walked in front of her parents while Vivien gently pushed the baby carriage as Ben beamed and stayed close to her side.

"I can't believe it's finally Halloween."-Violet said.

"Me either."-Ben said with a smile on his face.

It was rue that the best thing's in life were free. The Harmon family found themselves at a Halloween Festival and nothing could be more fun than (or all things considering cheaper) going to the festival.

There was a Ferris Wheel, carnival games, popcorn, cotton candy and live music. The family spent the entire day there enjoying freedom and some time together. Though Violet had grown too old (in her opinion) to be at a festival during the day with her parents, she had fun. She got on the rickety rollercoaster with her father and smiled when her mother and brother were waiting for them when they got down. She cheered her dad on as he tried a carnival game in order to win her mother a giant Teddy bear. She unnecessarily ate corndogs and cotton candy. In other words, she had a completely surreal day where the darkness was nowhere to be found and everything seemed normal. It was a day where she, Ben and Vivien could pretend that they were not dead and stuck in the house in which they died.

Soon enough the sun was about to go down and the four of them returned to the Murder House to get ready for their night plans. Vivien had gotten Moira to babysit for a while so she and Ben could have an actual date. Violet, on the other hand, had asked Chad to help her pick out some clothes. He had asked why and though Violet tried to lie Chad wasn't buying it.

"I'm going on a little date with Travis."

"Oh stop it Elvira. If you were really going to go out with that dumb piece of man candy you would have already. I know you're going to go after Norman Bates Jr. I'm not going to judge you for it. Believe me when I say the heart wants what it wants."

"I'm not going to go after him. I just want to talk."

"Yeah, sure. That's what Pat does with the guys he sees today too...talk."

"It's not like that."

"I'm sure it isn't. Then again don't think I haven't seen you looking at him. Everyone sees you. Frankly, it's pathetic. If I were you I would have done something about it a decade ago."

"A decade ago most of me would have just stabbed him with a blunt object."

"You should have. I like to do it myself from time to time."

"Yeah well I'm not into spreading bloodshed."

"What about your pussy?"

"What?"

"You've heard your father's psychotic mistress. She goes on and on about how being dead makes her horny. Don't you ever just look at your psychopath and picture bouncing on his cock one more time?"

Violet rolled her eyes at him. Yes she had thought about it (on a slightly regular schedule if she was being completely honest) but she clearly wasn't on the same level of need as everyone else was. Either way, that was not the point.

"It doesn't matter if I do or don't. I just want to talk. I figure if everyone is off from being in this hellhole, I might as well be off duty from not talking to him."

"Hmm methinks the lady will crack."

"Pfft, bullshit. The lady will not. It's just one night."

"I think you will. Did you even go to your room yet?"

"No, why?"

"Your suitor has left you tokens."

"What?"

"Just go look for yourself."

Up she went to her old bedroom and found the 'tokens' Chad had been talking about. In the center of the room, on the floor, lay a few packs of her preferred kind of cigarettes and a stack of books. She smiled when she noticed the depressing books she loved and hadn't read in years. Her dad always loved to see her with a depressing Russian novel and here were a few of them. It seemed sick that even now she loved to read things that were depressing but that was just who she was and Tate knew her all too well.

In her stack were _The Bell Jar, Lolita, Les Miserables, The Brothers Karamazov, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Never Let Me Go, Less Than Zero, The Sun Also Rises, A Tale of Two Cities_ and _The Phantom of the Opera. _She had no idea how he had gotten all of them, but instead of thinking any negatives, she thought the gesture sweet. Though two of the books were beyond his time it just proved that he had been listening to her when she mentioned them. That thought made her smile. Were it not for the fact that she really wanted to go and search for him, she would have sat down with one of her new books never to be heard of for days.

She gathered her presents and put them in the closet as she quickly changed into the outfit Chad had picked out for her. Off she went to the beach. She went straight back to the same spot in which they had been together the last time. Once at the beach, she saw him sitting on the sand looking at the waves. As she got closer, she noticed him nursing a wound near his ribcage. His hands were full of blood. She gasped and his head turned to her.

"Violet"-he groaned, nearly out of breath.


	2. Halloween Part Two: Montagues & Capulets

**A/N: This chapter was very difficult to write because I'm following Tate and his mindscope for all of it. Lesson learned: (For me) It's easier to write from Violet's perspective. **

**Fair warning...Tate dies A LOT in this chapter, so expect some violence. It's all part of the process though, I promise.**

**Title comes from the musical composition of the same name by S. Prokofiev.**

* * *

Chapter Three: Halloween Part Two: Montagues and Capulets

"_It is not the first time, as you know, that I have regretted that I am no longer your slave: and monster though I be, according to you, I never recall without pleasure the time when you honored me with sweeter titles._"- Dangerous Liasons

* * *

Tate watched as Violet went out with her parents from what used to be their room. He was glad she had left early as it gave him more time to get her the presents he had in mind. First things first however, and he was off to Westfield to face his past. Luckily for him this October 31st was a Saturday, which meant that a random kid walking down the halls of a high school wouldn't be considered odd. Better yet, no one was going to recognize him even if it was by accident.

As it was early morning there were a few staff members at the high school and that meant that there was a door open. Getting into the school was remarkably easy considering that he was going to have to have a hard time trying to explain to the 'Dead Breakfast Club' (as Violet liked to call them) why he did the things that he did. Well explaining things and he was going to let them take shots at him as much as they liked. He had a beat down coming to him from them for years and it was time that they finally got what they wanted.

He walked into the library and started having flashbacks of the day that he had killed them. They weren't happy memories for him even if he had been the one doing the killing. He knew why he had done it but it didn't make it pleasant. Truth be told, he had received no pleasure from shooting down fifteen people. His reverie was broken when they appeared.

"Finally going to tell us why you did it?"-Said Chloe.

"Or are you going to let us beat the living crap out of you?"-Said Kyle.

Tate had trouble finding his thoughts at first, but he was man enough to say what he had to say: "Both. You deserve your revenge on me and you deserve an explanation."

"Yeah, no fucking shit."- Retorted Stephanie. "Get to it."

"It was nothing personal. You said it yourself the last time; I wasn't targeting a group in particular. I just thought that I was setting you free."

"Setting us free from what? From going to college and having a full life?"- Chloe interrupted.

"No. I just saw this world as one giant black hole sucking the life out of everyone…me especially. There was so much pain to me and I thought I was doing something good for all of you. That I was releasing you from the pain."

"You seriously expect us to believe that you didn't know right from wrong?"- Kevin said in exasperation.

"I don't expect you to believe anything. You wanted me to admit it and you wanted to know why. I admit it…I killed all of you. I told you why."

Chloe violently slapped his face and then looked at Tate sadly. She said: "You shot me in the heart and I won't ever forgive you for it, but admitting it and trying to explain why is enough for me." With those words she walked away and faded into a sliver of light.

Amir couldn't utter a word but like Chloe just those words seemed to be enough. He too faded into light.

* * *

Kyle, Kevin and Stephanie, however, did not seemed pleased with just hearing their murdered admit to his crimes. It wasn't enough to hear that he was psychotic and thought he was doing something good. They wanted vengeance and they were going to have it. Tate knew it was coming and braced himself for it.

The boys let Stephanie have the first turn. She was feeling fairly malicious but what she wanted for him was a direct yet painful death. She grabbed some scissors from the librarian's desk and held them firmly in her right hand. She asked the boys to hold Tate still so she could have better precision. She walked over to her personal walking, talking nightmare and with all the force she could manage stabbed Tate's heart with the scissors.

His eyes widened and bulged at the pain. He intended to make noise but he couldn't seem to breath. No sound escaped him. Stephanie became slightly enraged at this fact and then, with even harsher force than before, opened the scissors that had been inserted inside his heart. A loud scream pierced the silence of the library. Stephanie then felt content, closed the scissors and withdrew them from Tate's body.

"He's dead again."- Kevin commented.

"Not for long. You guys will have an opportunity soon enough. I suggest getting him out of here though. I don't think anyone needs to see an unexplained pool of blood on the floor…especially after what happened to us."- And with her last speech, Stephanie faded.

"I didn't really think she was going to do that."- Kyle said.

"Why not?"

"I thought she was just going to scratch his face and beat him to death. Not stab him."

"She probably chose to stab him to get it out of the way faster but still make him suffer."

"Come on, let's drag this asshole outside."

The two dragged Tate to the back of the school. Luckily it was empty. By the time they dropped him on the grass, he had revived from Stephanie's attack. Tate rolled over and coughed up a bit of blood. He was about to stand up when Kyle kicked his side. Kevin followed suit.

Being dead had made these two victims enraged to a gargantuan degree. Even after they had beat their murderer so much that he had stopped breathing, had blood all over his deceptively angelic face, cracked bones and had turned almost entirely purple from his bruises, they still had a bit of rage inside of them. They left Tate alone. They had burned off some steam and though they still had more testosterone to exert on this blonde knave, they went away together to enjoy a bit of the fresh air they could enjoy.

* * *

Tate didn't know how much time had passed from his last moment of consciousness whilst they were beating him to when he woke up. If he had to guess, he'd say it was a bit after noon. Considering he didn't see the two boys around, he took the opportunity to get up and start gathering the things he wanted for Violet. The first thing he did was go back to the library to pick up some books for her.

He hoped they had some of the books he had in mind. He remembered one of the good days before she had banished him, when Violet and he were talking about books. She had a taste for things that were depressing and morose. Tate liked those kinds of books himself but preferred to read poetry. The two of them had gotten into a friendly debate over that. A debate that, he happily remembered, ended with them on the bed. Once in the library, he started looking for them and was pleasantly surprised when they had them all. He understood that classics like _Les Miserables_ would be found and that _Never Let Me Go_, which Violet had told him about and was relatively knew and well reviewed would be found in the library.

_Less Than Zero, _however, seriously surprised him. Of the times he had visited the library when he was alive, it hadn't been on the shelves. He knew from personal experience because he was a fan of Bret Easton Ellis and when he had first been interested in reading his books, he had tried the library. That trip had disappointed him. That being said, on this occasion, he found everything he had planned to get.

He was about to exit the library when he stopped, grabbed a pen, opened one of the books and wrote two quotes inside it. He hoped that Violet would find them and at the very least smile when she saw what he had written. He loved her and he would do anything for her. He'd tell her about his talk to his victims if she only let him, but he came to accept that it wasn't going to happen. Well, it wasn't going to happen any time soon. He still held hope. He would still wait for eternity.

He got out of Westfield as fast as he could. If he could avoid having conflict again until he got the books to Violet's room, then everything would be all right. He got lucky. Once back at Murder , he placed the books in the center of her room and then went to the basement to get her cigarettes. He had had his mother (who had annoyingly disturbed him last week) get them for him and he had stashed them there. He grabbed them from the dark corner in which he had hidden them and gone back upstairs to place them on top of the books.

"Awww, the little psycho is still in love with his nightingale."- Said Hayden's annoyingly bitter voice.

"Leave me alone, Hayden. Go screw with someone outside the house for once, you worthless cocksucker. Go away."

With that she disappeared. He had no idea what the hell she was still doing inside the house and he didn't care. He just wanted to be left alone. Once he had finished placing her gifts in her room, he left the house again and half smiled at the sight of Kevin and Kyle. He had been expecting them to come back for a second round.

* * *

This time the two of them had gotten a handgun. Kevin waved it around for a few seconds and then put it inside his jacket. They looked at him with an evil smile and Kyle said: "We'd like to play a game with you."

"Are you going to use me for target practice?"- Tate said playfully.

"Nah. We thought about it but that requires more bullets."- Kevin replied.

"We're assuming you've heard of Russian roulette?"-Kyle asked.

"Heard of it but never played it. I guess I don't have a choice, right?"

"You guess correctly asshole."-Kyle continued.

They grabbed Tate and took him to the gazebo. All three teenage ghosts sat under the shade. Kevin took the gun out of his pocket and put it on the floor in front of them. Kyle then grabbed it and said that he was going to go first. He put the gun up to his temple, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. No bullet. He gave a know it all smile and passed the gun back to Kevin. Kevin repeated Kyle's actions and again…nothing.

Tate wasn't stupid, he very well knew that the next turn would lodge a bullet into someone's brain. He knew that the two of them had gone first on purpose just so he could receive a bullet to his brain. He sighed in indifference. Tate took the gun from Kevin and before he put the gun up to his head he asked:

"Any particular area you want me to take aim at?"

"I don't know…I want you to eat the bullet but I'm pretty sure Kyle here wants it between the eyes."

"Doesn't matter Kev. I just want to see an opening the size of a barn door in the back of his head. Just to make it correct though, take it between the eyes."

So Tate held the gun up to his head and between his eyes. He looked at Kyle and pulled the trigger. Darkness enshrouded him for the third time that day. And as it did, Kyle finally faded into light. Moira woke him up a small while later.

* * *

"I don't very much appreciate you spraying blood on the gazebo on my one day off."

As he got up from the floor and saw the blood splatter he sighed.

"Yeah. Just had to take care of something."

"Yes, I saw. You might be a monster but at least you had the decency to face the ones you robbed of life."

"It seemed the right thing to do."

"That's a vast improvement on your character. Miss Violet really has changed you."

"Yeah."

"I saw what you did for her. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"I hope so. Not that it's going to make any difference."

"Even the most pristine gems can fall victim to cracks."

"If you say so."

"I do. Clean up your mess. I brought you the bleach."

Moira dropped the cleaning instruments next to him. He sighed and cleaned up after himself. Wasn't the first bloodshed he had taken care of and this one was self provoked so he might as well. Once he was done, he left for the beach. The sun was soon to go down so it was proper timing.

* * *

He got to the beach and just sat down in near the exact same spot he had been in with Violet all those years ago. He was half-expecting to finally be left alone but, of course, that was completely impossible. Kevin appeared with a piece of glass in his hands. He stared at Tate for a second. Kevin seemed tentative about what he was going to do but Tate just encouraged him by saying:

"You've come for a last good-bye?"

Kevin shoved the glass into Tate. It lodged itself amidst his ribs. Kevin's aim had been perfect; he had pierced Tate's lung. For some unknown reason piercing Tate's lung gave Kevin the release he was looking for. He faded into light as well.

Tate just sat back and looked into the darkened skies and the black sea. He had finally gotten them off his chest. He felt good about it. He didn't feel good about his lung collapsing and dying for a fourth time within the same twenty-four hours, but it still felt like he had gotten something off his chest. That, in turn, just made him smile briefly. He had never lied when he said Violet had changed him. He was doing everything in his power to prove it and he thought of the day as a job well done.

Suddenly, he heard a feminine gasp and he turned his head to find Violet looking at him with concern in her eyes. The physical pain he had didn't permit him to properly express himself and because there was almost no breath left in his he could barely speak. Just the same, with the small amount of strength afforded to him this time he groaned her name and succumbed for the fourth, and final, time that day to the darkness of death.


	3. What The Water Gave Me

**A/N: First thanks to everyone who has reviewed and followed the story.**

** Second sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update. My internet was nonexistent for three days and now it comes and goes, so it's been difficult to get into the mojo without watching an AHS episode. Either way there's a lot of fluff here. I figured they deserved it for one night.**

**Third, this was written to a lot of Florence + The Machine; What The Water Gave Me and Breath of Life were the main songs.**

***Dangerous Liasons**

****Romeo & Juliet**

*****Reworked from Lolita. (Also I'm guessing her height.)**

* * *

Chapter Four: What the Water Gave Me (La Joie et la Tristesse)

"_Time it took us _

_To where the water was_

_That's what the water gave me_

_And time goes quicker_

_Between the two of us_

_Oh, my love, don't forsake me_

_Take what the water gave me_

_[…]_

_You've been holding on a long time_

_And all this longing_

_And the shields are left to rust_

_That's what the water gave us."_-Florence + The Machine

* * *

Violet felt something very odd inside her when she saw Tate die. She knew he was going to wake up but, right at the moment that he closed his eyes and fell onto his side on the sand, it felt like a dagger had been thrust into her heart. Her chest felt tight and she could hardly breath. It was an awful feeling that was worse than what she had ever felt before, and she couldn't stop a momentary wail of pain from escaping her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to regulate her labored breathing. She then calmly walked over to Tate, who still lay unconscious.

She sat down next to him and gathered him into her arms, setting his golden head on her lap and brushing a few stray locks of hair out of his face. It was odd, she thought, how angelic he could look when he was anything **but **angelic. His beauty was not more than a mask to his blackened soul. He was a walking contradiction. And yet, despite herself, she could not help but love him. He was the darkness she would always crave and cling to like an addict to his preferred substance.

Violet definitely did not expect to find him only to watch him die. She looked out at the ocean as she waited for him to gain consciousness once again. So far, this night was turning out to be completely different than from what she would have expected. After a few minutes, she felt his hand touch her face and she looked down at him. His eyes were wide open and inquisitive.

* * *

"Are you real?"-He asked.

She laughed. "Other than being dead? Yes."

"Why are you here? I thought you had said good-bye for the last time."

"I did, but we're allowed one night free from the house every year. So this year, I get a night to be free too."

He sat up and looked at her with a smile. "You're going to stay here with me?"

"Don't get too excited. It's only for tonight."

"Ok."-He said and looked away from her. He tried to think about it as something positive but it was difficult. It was like having won the battle but not the war.

"Thank you for the books and the cigarettes, Tate."

He gave his most beautiful smile: "_I was nothing else, since I must say it, but the weak agent of the divinity whom I adore*._"

She rolled her eyes at him with a smile on her face. "It was thoughtful. I have to ask, though…"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you die again just now?"

"Oh, Kevin stabbed me in the lung. I think he's gone now. The others are."

"The Dead Breakfast Club?"

"Yeah. I talked to them to clear the air and I let them kill me too."

"But you said Kevin stabbed you."

"Yes but that was just now. Stephanie stabbed me in the heart this morning, Kevin and Kyle beat me to death after that and, in the afternoon, we played Russian roulette. I lost and took a bullet between the eyes."

Something tugged at her insides in an agonizingly painful way at the thought of him dying four times in one day. "What about the other two?"-She said after a second.

"Well, Chloe slapped me, but other than that they seemed pretty content with just a confession and knowing why I did it."

"That was…good of you."

"I figured I deserved whatever they had in store for me. They deserved their vengeance and their peace."

"Is that really why you did it?"

"Partially. The other part just wanted to do what I thought you would want me to do. I've been apologizing to everyone and trying to make amends."

* * *

Violet looked at him for a moment. She had believed what he had said all those years ago but now, he was proving it to her. He **had **changed. Vivien told her that Tate had tried time and time again to apologize, but she didn't know that he was trying to do so with everybody else. It was a sweet gesture, but Violet knew that it didn't clear him from being a monster…especially not if he didn't mean it.

"Did you mean it when you apologized? Did you want to confront the kids you killed just because of me?"

"I've told you before. You changed me. I do it because I now know what I've done is wrong. Ever since you told me to go away and said good-bye to me, I've known. You were the catalyst I needed."

_Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say 'ay'. And I will take thy word**. -_This was what Violet perversely thought at that moment. She hated being mushy, (that was Tate's thing) but now was the time to throw that out the window…for a little while at least. She had hours left with him and it was best to get her feelings out of the way and make the most out of the time they had left.

"I still love you, Tate."

He gave no reply. He merely looked at her beautiful face and smiled melancholically.

"I hate to have to say this but since I said good-bye to you… I've…ached I know that you've seen me watching you."

He nodded. "Yeah. And you know I watch you too."

"I do. I just never really expected to be so affected by being away from you."

She stopped for a second and held his hand. "Part of me is dying to have you hold me and tell me that it's going to be alright. To be with my 'Sweet Tate' again. The other part knows that you have to pay for what you did. Tonight, I just surrender my conscience."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means I'm yours for the night."-She said and gave him a kiss.

* * *

She pushed him down onto the sand while their lips were still attached and dug her fingers into his hair. She had felt such a need for him that feeling his lips against hers after such a long time felt like taking a breath for the first time in years. All the aching and the longing that had long been stored and had been eating away at her insides were released and she felt free. She felt…happy again.

Tate was in heaven. His beautiful light had finally shone down on him for the first time in a long time. He was, for all intents and purposes, enlightened. He would always put Violet before himself but, at this moment, he kissed her like a mad man. He knew that she would leave before the night was out and he felt the complete need to take up as much of her as he could before she disappeared. He flipped her over and wrapped his arms around her. He never wanted this moment to end.

This time, when Violet reached for his crotch, he didn't deny her. They slowly undressed each other and made love. It was different from the first time they had done it. This time there were no lies, no omissions and everything was out in the open. They were exposed to each other in every possible way. When Tate pushed himself inside her, it was an ethereal experience. Violet had arched her spine, thrown her head back and opened her mouth in a silent scream at the sensation. Tate had gasped, violently shut his eyes and held Violet tightly and as close to him as he could. It wasn't about lust at that moment. It was about being together after such a long time. It was about the emotional release they felt at the moment of penetration.

They felt every inch of each other's skin and when they again pressed their mouths together as they thrust in tandem, it was like every one of their cells was on fire. They felt liberated and loved. It was almost too much for either one of them to contain. Violet had shut her eyes and she separated from his mouth only to utter:

"I swear if you begin to cry or if you stop, I will kill you."

"Uh-huh."-He mumbled before kissing her again.

Before they knew it, they were unraveling together. Violet bit one of Tate's biceps to keep from making noise. In contrast, Tate moaned out her name. They felt boneless in the aftermath. Tate held on to Violet as he lay next to her and she used his shoulder as a pillow. She let her eyes drift for a moment but he wouldn't dare shut his lids. He had been unconscious too many times that day and he wanted to cling onto the only tangible proof he had that this had really happened.

If the first time had been intense, then he had no words to describe what it was like this time around. This time it felt like they had been more connected. He had no idea why that gave him a slight fright, but it did. Violet had let herself be vulnerable with him again after everything that had happened: after she had found out everything he did, after they had been banished from each other for what seemed like centuries. Tate was amazed by Violet more now than ever before. She was giving into her desires for one night, only to return to her prison the very next day. Tate hoped that the two messages he had left within one of the books he had gotten her would be enough to remind her of their night together. Enough to remind her that he would always love her and wait for her for all eternity.

* * *

Some time later, when it was still the middle of the night, Violet woke up alone. Tate had dressed her again so she wouldn't get cold and he was now swimming in the sea. Violet thought it pointless that he had dressed her seeing as, when she caught a glimpse of his blonde hair in the black water, she undressed herself again and dove in to follow him. He hadn't noticed her when she went in and Violet decided to use this to her advantage. She swam underneath the surface and when she was right next to him she tugged on his leg to surprise him. She felt him jump She surfaced and, when he saw her impish face, he smiled at her.

"Are you enjoying your freedom?"-She asked.

"Yes. You?"

"Yeah."-She got close to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I love you, Violet."

She smiled into the crook of his neck. He unwrapped one of his arms and reached down to tease her. Violet moaned, as she was still sensitive from earlier. This time, instead of being loving and gentle, she wanted both of them to lose control: to be wanton and feral in their physical consummation. She bit him and he grunted all the while rubbing her folds faster and harder. Violet started to moan as she grabbed him in her hand and began to stroke his hardened length. Whatever patience he had was finally drawing thin, because he said:

"I have to fuck you, Vi."

Violet just nodded her head and without warning, slapped his fingers away and impaled herself on him. They groaned. Despite that they were weightless in the water and their movements felt heavier, they found a harsh, erratic rhythm that was complaisant to their libidinous appetites. Where before they had been feeding their depressed souls with love, tenderness and freedom, here they were feeding the animals within. Violet knew that Tate had a dark side and she was experiencing in the best way possible. In fact, it was the only way that Tate would ever allow. They were enjoying the vigorous experience and their noises were unrestrained and guttural. Minutes later, Tate shuddered in ecstasy and came inside Violet with her name on his lips. His reaction caused Violet to climax herself and this time she screamed his name, causing a smirk to grace his gorgeous face.

"Don't look so happy with yourself."-She said in between pants.

"Hey, I'd be happy even if I hadn't made you scream my name."-He said with a cocky smile.

And in that moment, as they stared at each other in post-coital bliss, they felt joy and sadness at the same time. They still had some time together…not a lot of it but they had some left. The promise of those last few hours created their joy; the certainty of the separation that would come after enshrouded them in sadness. Perchance they knew that they were both thinking the same thing, because right then they held onto each other tightly. It's difficult to know for certain who was more heartbroken at the prospect of being separated from their other half. Both of them had become accustomed to living in a grey, mundane and joyless existence. They had just experienced feeling something other than longing and sorrow; it would be very arduous to let those sentiments go and shove themselves back into the horrid reality in which they existed.

* * *

Suddenly, Violet let go of Tate, got under the surface and started to swim towards the shore. She wasn't going to let him see her cry, so she might as well do it underneath the water. She couldn't see where she was going but it didn't matter, she found her way anyway. By the time she was walking on land, she had stopped crying. She quickly got dressed and sat down on the sand to think. Tate followed suit, dressed and sat down next to Violet once he had gotten out of the water. A few minutes passed before he asked her:

"How much time do we have?"

"A few hours."

"Do you want to watch the sunrise when it's time?"

"Yes."

"Ok. So…what do we do now?"

"Let's go back to the house. I could really use a hot bath."

"Ok. Sure."

They walked back to the house with their hands intertwined. No words were exchanged; they weren't necessary. Soon enough they reached the house. Violet and Tate seemed to walk on eggshells for fear that someone would see them (namely her parents). Either all the ghosts were still out or the ones that **were **in the house didn't see them or didn't care. They reached the bathroom. To them it would always be that haunting place in which Violet had died loved in Tate's arms. They wanted to make a new memory within this room. She locked the door and peeled Tate's sweater off him; he took her dress off. Then, they found themselves comfortably cuddled in the bathtub. The warm water soothed their cold, sand-dusted limbs. It was surreal for both of them and they relished in it. If they had been alive, then both of them would have been older, possibly married and would have done this with candles and glasses of wine or champagne. That was not reality, however, and it never would be.

* * *

Their soak soon came to an end and they changed into comfortable clothes so they could venture out onto the roof. The sunrise would be coming up soon and seeing it together would be the perfect end to their last bit of time together. They were comfortably sitting together watching the light in the sky become a darkened grayish blue, when Tate asked:

"You haven't opened any of the books, have you?"

"No. Why?"

"You'll find out soon enough. It's nothing bad, though."

"Okay."-She said, not wanting to get into it when so little time was left.

* * *

More comfortable embracing followed and before they knew it, the sun was rising beautifully. The sight of it made Violet sigh. It was time, she thought. However, in a last minute decision, she decided to betray herself. A few tears had fallen from Tate's eyes and Violet wiped them away with her delicate fingers.

"Fall asleep with me, Tate."

"I thought it was just for the night."

"It is. But the night isn't over until I go to sleep and wake up again."

He smiled at her. They went to their bedroom and lay together on the bed that remained there. They slept in their usual spooning position...blissful only to know that they had allowed themselves some more time. Both were happy that **Violet **had extended their time. Hours later when the sun was at its highest, Tate woke up and stared at Violet passionately. He smiled, got creative and thought:

"_She was Vi, plain Vi, in the morning standing five feet five in one sock. She was Lottie in leggings, she was V at the Murder House. She was Violet on the dotted line. But in my arms (in my head), she was always...Lolita. Light of my afterlife, fire of my loins. My sin. My soul."***_

He loved her to the outmost of his physical, emotional and mental capacities, whatever much that could mean. All he knew is that he dreadfully waited for her to tell him to go away again.

Violet opened her eyes and looked into the dark pair of the boy she loved. They were sad, as she expected them to be, but beautiful. With all the strength and resolve that she could muster, she pressed one final kiss onto his lips, felt him kiss her back and then confidently uttered: "Go away, Tate."

He disappeared. Their heart's broke.


	4. Blindness

**A/N: Thank you so much to my reviewers and followers! A special thanks to jandjsalmon for helping me with an important detail.**

**The version of the song below is the one performed by Jack White. Sounds very different.**

**Everything quoted by Tate and Violet is J. Keats.**

* * *

Chapter Five: Blindness

_Love is blindness I don't want to see_

_Won't you wrap the night around me?_

_Oh, my heart, love is blindness._

_[…]_

_Love is clockworks and is cold steel_

_Fingers too numb to feel_

_Squeeze the handle, blow out the candle_

_Blindness (blindness)_

_[…]_

_A little death without mourning_

_No call, no warning_

_Baby, a dangerous idea_

_That almost makes sense_

_[…]_

_Love is blindness_

_I'm too numb to feel_

_Blow out the candles_

_Blindness_- Love is Blindness

* * *

Violet was completely numb at that moment. Like mist, Tate had evaporated into thin air. He was probably lying in the darkness of the basement. She had imprisoned them both with two words. She knew what had happened, what she had done and how she **should **feel, but she was just numb. She stared blankly at the side of the bed he had occupied while they slept together and the side he had been looking at her from before she sent him away.

The first feeling that started developing within Violet was the aching she had temporarily gotten rid of the previous night. The aching that had been nonexistent that very morning. Tate had been next to her when she first opened her eyes, looking at her with a loving gaze and before her heart could protest her mind acted and he was no more. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't just yet.

Her mother came in to check on her, as she hadn't seen her daughter since the previous afternoon but Violet didn't answer her. She merely told her mother what she never thought she would: "Go away." She had died a teenager and the desire to rebel still lived inside her. She didn't want anyone to find her right now. She wanted to be left alone. She wanted a cigarette. She went into the closet and grabbed the lighter and a pack of cigarettes. She was going to have to ration them but right now she had the absolute need to smoke. It was then that she remembered that Tate had mentioned something about the books.

Violet grabbed all of them and put them on the bed. She didn't know which book to open first. She lit a cigarette and thought about it. She was pretty sure he had written something inside one of the books. She was terrified of what his message might be. It was sure to be something meaningful and, with the way that she was feeling right now, she would probably react strongly at the sight of it. Did she really want to open Pandora's emotional train wreck box? It was at the very moment that she was about to start opening books that her father came in.

"Your mother told me you told her to go away."

"I did. And I'm saying it to you too. Leave me the fuck alone and go away!"

* * *

Violet finally started having whole feelings again. The aching was the most present feeling of them all, but she was also livid. She was just plain tired of fighting between what was right and what she wanted. Something about the heartache, being stuck in the house between want & duty and something about everything she had done, made her want to throw and destroy things. She wasn't going to destroy the things Tate had given her but she wanted to break anything else she got her hands on. Pissing off her parents seemed like a decent substitute. She'd go find them and apologize eventually but now was not the time.

She started opening the pile of books. What Tate had written was neither in Sylvia Plath nor in Nabokov. Not in Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, Dickens, Ishiguro, Easton Ellis, Hugo or Bauby. The only one left was _The Phantom of the Opera._ Of course it would be in there. A monster in love doing everything he could for the object of his affections. She opened it and found Tate's handwriting quoting John Keats. Violet recognized the first quote as part of a letter Keats had sent to Fanny Brawne and the second as a verse from one of his poems.

"_I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days-three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain._"

"_O, let me once more rest_

_My soul upon that dazzling breast!_

_Let once again these aching arms be placed,_

_The tender gaolers of thy waist!_

_And let me feel that warm breath here and there_

_To spread a rapture in my very hair-_

_O, the sweetness of the pain!_

_Give me those lips again!_

_Enough! Enough! It is enough for me_

_To dream of thee!_"

Once she had finished reading those words, she shut the book with brash force and shut her eyes tightly. To think she had given him what he wanted for one night and then she had taken it away. She ripped her own heart apart again and, by what she read, she had ripped Tate's heart apart as well. Her body now got the full force of it all. Her chest had tightened so much this time, that she felt suffocated. She curled up on the bed and finally let loud screams rip from her insides.

* * *

Tate heard Violet's screams from his place in the basement. He had never felt more useless in his existence. It was his fault that she was reacting the way she was. He was the one who was a monster; he was the one that had fallen in love with her and unconsciously trapped her into loving him. He didn't think writing to her would cause such damage but, then again, when he wrote it he hadn't been expecting her to spend the night with him. Even so, he didn't think it would cause her to enter such a state of anguish. He hated himself deeply at that moment. The only thing he could think to do to exorcise his feelings was for him to scream as well. He wasn't going to do that however, so he did the next best thing. He would let the torture envelop him. He walked to her room and leaned against the door. Placing his hands and his forehead on the wood, he could almost see Violet in her turmoil. He could almost reach out to her and comfort her. He wanted her to be happy so badly but it seemed to him that he was nothing but a problem.

It was in that contemplative state that Ben and Vivien found him moments later when they rushed to try to coax Violet out of her room. Ben's protective side came out and he grabbed Tate by the neck.

"What did you do to her?"-Ben yelled.

"Nothing!"-He squeaked as Ben added pressure to his neck.

"You better not be lying, Tate."-Ben said while dropping him.

"Violet?"-Vivien gently said.

By the time she had heard the conversation outside, Violet had stopped screaming. She heard her mother calling and with a hoarse voice answered: "I'm fine, mom. Leave me alone."

"Violet, what happened?"-Ben started.

"Just leave me alone! What part of 'go away' didn't you understand?"

* * *

Ben and Vivien looked at each other and decided to wait for Violet downstairs. They knew it was futile to try to talk to her in the state she was in. Tate, however, was adamant about staying right where he was. So when the Harmon couple went away, Tate sat next to the door and waited. It was a while later that Chad appeared.

"What's wrong with Elvira? I thought you two talked yesterday?"

"She told you?"

"Oh sweetie, even if she hadn't told me, there's little that goes on in this house that I don't know of."

"Well, we spent the night together."

Chad sighed in annoyance: "Don't tell me things I already know, Bates. You two were together until midday. Explain."

"Yesterday, I talked to the kids I shot and they killed me on more than one occasion."'

"Goodie for them! I applaud their actions. You know I take my fair share of shots at you. And if you let them kill you, then you're just her lovely knight in psychotic armor, aren't you?"

"That's not the only reason I did it."

"Are you sure? Because you keep hounding ME and I know it's only to get her to see the so called good side of you, which by the way, I don't think exists."

"Whatever you want to believe, you old Queen. I just thought those kids needed to take have their revenge. They did. And by nighttime, only one of them was left and he stabbed me in the lung. Violet found me when I died after that."

"Oh…so **that's **it."-He said giving a knowing smirk. "As much as I want to throw acid on Pat's face sometimes, I don't much like watching him die. It's the same for her I would imagine."

"When I woke up, she was holding me. She just confessed a lot of things to me and that we'd only have the night together."

Tate fought a slight blush that he felt coming across his face at the thought of him and Violet making love. Chad automatically knew what that meant.

"I see a blush creeping on that demonic face of yours. Did you two play hide the salami?"-Chad said with a raised eyebrow and his mouth contorted into a grin.

"None of your business."-He said angrily.

"Ha! You did…I told her, the bitch!"

"Don't call her that!"-Tate said giving Chad the evil eye.

"Take it easy there Bates! I'm just saying that I told Elvira that you two weren't just going to talk. The only people in this house that don't want to fuck are children. You two are teenagers...that makes it worse."

Chad then walked away and left Tate to, once again, be alone outside Violet's door unable to do anything to comfort her.

* * *

Inside, Violet thought about the phases she was experiencing in dealing with this situation. First there was the calm before the storm, then the actual event (her screaming) and now she was going through the calm **after** the storm. She hated what she had done and she was surprised by that notion. For she wasn't ashamed or sorry that she had been with Tate last night. Well, at least in this moment of clarity, she wasn't. For years and years upon her existence in the house, all she had ever done was sacrifice herself for her family. She had done the right thing for her mother; to prove to her mother that she was a good daughter. To be brave in a moment of complete horror and put herself aside in order to do what was right. It had been decades since then. It was this that she so thoroughly hated. That though her youthful beauty remained forever, her insides had grown old and haggard. And for a long time, she did everything for her parents with a fake smile on her face.

Last night, had been just what she had needed and wanted. Thus, she was at a crossroads. She could follow through with her first plan and just continue to ignore Tate until the next Halloween, or she could give in to her desire to be free from misery. Would that be so hard for her parents to understand? Weren't parents supposed to care for the happiness of their children? It's hard to have to decide whether or not to go back into darkness once you've been temporarily freed of it. That and only that was what was killing Violet on the inside. It was something else that her brilliant mind hadn't expected. She hadn't expected that, in feeling so liberated and happy with him for one night, she would have to put on a braver face than she had before when she purposefully extricated herself from his embrace this time.

* * *

She hated what she was about to do, but she did it all the same. She took a deep, suffocating breath, put on her best poker face and went out of her room. She saw Tate out of the corner of her eye, but merely ignored him. She went to the living room to find her parents and there she apologized:

"Look, I'm sorry. I had to deal with my own shit and I wasn't going to involve you."

Vivien looked at her daughter for a second before asking: "Does this have anything to do with Tate?"

Violet gave her mother a look and through it communicated everything that was necessary. With that look Vivien understood that it did have to do with Tate, but that Violet wasn't going to elaborate. Ben knew it too.

"Stay away from him, Violet."-Ben warned her.

"Oh that's what I've been doing, haven't I? I've stayed away from Tate for years for the two of you. I'm sick and fucking TIRED of it! I'll admit it, I hate myself for loving that monster, but I love him anyway. Don't worry, though…your Violet is going to stay strong. Now if you'll excuse me, I have cigarettes to smoke."

With that she left to sit under the gazebo and smoke it off. She felt Tate's eyes looking at her and ignored the gaze. Knowing that he was looking made her feel more and more like shit. She might as well get used to it because she had another three hundred and sixty four days of it.

* * *

When Tate had seen Violet come out of their room, he didn't expect her to talk to him, so he stayed out of the way. He heard what she had told her parents and sighed. It was a sigh denoting that he **was** upset about her holding firm to what she thought was right, but he wasn't going to stop her. Did it make either one of them happy? Absolutely not. But he knew right from wrong nowadays, so he would let them both do the right thing. As much as he deserved to have the Dead Breakfast Club murder him, he deserved to be away from the one person he wanted the most all the more. He went back to the basement, sat in a corner and closed his eyes. He begged for a moment without thought.

* * *

Hours later, Violet found herself reading _The Phantom of the Opera._ If Tate had marked it, then it was the one she would treasure the most. As she read it, she laughed at the thought that, despite what had happened to her, she still wanted Christine to end up with the phantom. Something about that unending devotion (no matter the cost) had always enchanted Violet. It's what had gotten her in the situation she found herself in, that was for sure. Several chapters in and with all those thoughts running around in her head, she went back to the cover and read the quotes written by Tate's hand. She ran her hands over the words absentmindedly. She smiled briefly as she had a thought and pressed her lips to the words.

"…_Write the softest words and kiss them that I may at least touch my lips where yours have been._"

She had looked at the quotes at least a dozen times whilst she read the book and every time it felt like the sting of cutting. Well, it felt like cutting if she had ever done it to her heart. In a way, Violet deeply appreciated what he had done because she would have a reminder of him, but on the other hand it reminded her that she couldn't be with him. It reminder her of all the bedlam he had caused. He was her monster…but she was no Harley Quinn.

* * *

Weeks passed, and Tate had all but disappeared. He figured that he was making Violet's existence much easier if she simply didn't see him. She had her reminders and seeing him wasn't going to help her. He would be patient for her; he would do anything for her. He had told her that once that he'd leave her alone if that was what she wanted. He would keep his promise to her.

What Tate wasn't aware of, however, was that his absence only made things harder for Violet. She would lock herself up for hours on end and read until she got monsters, redemptions and horrors mixed up. She would read his handwriting every once in a while and when she left the room she just wanted to catch a glimpse of him. If anything, she was acting like she had those two weeks after she died but wasn't aware of it. Her father started spouting that she was depressed again and Violet would only stare at him. The desire to slice his tongue off grew substantially every time he spoke to her now. Her mother had tried to talk to her on more than one occasion but Violet wasn't receptive.

* * *

One day in December, Violet had gotten stir crazy and she started walking around the backyard of the house. Eventually she came across Moira, who was underneath the gazebo. She stood next to the old maid and said hello.

"It's been a while since anyone saw you."-Moira said.

"I don't see why. I do come out of my room."

"The last time you came out was two weeks ago and I know this because your father's little whore was the only one who saw you."

"I have a lot to read."

"You don't fool me, Violet. We're ghosts. We don't eat, we don't go anywhere and if we sleep it's by choice. Clearly, my dear, you've had time to have read all those books more than once."

"So?"

"We all know why you've been distant. Your parents are worried about you."

"Yeah, I know. Considering they're part of the reason I'm pissed, I stay away from them."

"They just want the best for you."

"Kind of pointless now that I'm dead, isn't it?"

"Yes. I'm just telling you what they want. I never intended to change your mind."

"Change my mind about what?"

"You know very well what so I'm not going to tell you."

With that she walked away and left Violet to her own devices.

* * *

It was Christmas. Or so he thought, because he had heard Moira, Ben and Vivien singing carols upstairs. Violet seemed to have let the anger she had towards her parents disappear again and soon after joined them. He smiled. If Violet was happy with her family again then his torture lessened. Her happiness outshone his loneliness and his well-deserved punishment. Tate sat in the rocking chair in the darkness and closed his eyes.

He had fallen asleep and was woken by a soft pair of lips pressing themselves onto his. He opened his eyes and though it was too dark to see who it was, he recognized the voice that said: "Merry Christmas, Tate."

"Merry Christmas, Vi."-He said before blindly finding her lips with his.

They kissed for a few minutes before Violet disappeared from his arms. Violet knew that her rules were bending and that her will was cracking. Now Tate knew it too.


	5. No Good

**A/N: Taken me a while, I know but here it is finally! I'd like to thank the wonderful people who own the B&B in Belgium where I wrote a large portion of this. And of course thank you to all you readers and reviewers.**

* * *

Chapter Six: No Good

_But I can't get joy_

_Thinking of you in the final throes_

_This is when my buzzer goes_

_[…]_

"_There will be none of him no more"_

_I cried for you on the kitchen floor_

_[…]_

_I cheated myself_

_Like I knew I would_

_I told you I was trouble_

_You know that I'm no good._

_[…]_

_Sweet reunion Jamaica and Spain_

_We're like how we were_ again- You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse

* * *

After Violet disappeared from Tate's embrace, she appeared back in her room. She hadn't really planned on kissing him, but when she realized it was Christmas and that he was alone in that dark and dank basement, her insides tightened once again. She wanted to relieve some of his pain and some of hers. A kiss was the perfect Christmas present for them both. That being said, just like when she had had a night of joy with him, the kiss made the anguish following their separation sharper.

She crawled into fetal position and whilst she felt the barrage of negative emotions drown her, she found herself thinking more and more about Tate. Thoughts of him were her vice and her comfort. She felt guilty about all these thoughts but she couldn't help but cherish the high. It was the only thing she had left right now. She thought of his warm, comforting embrace, his piercing dark eyes, silky flaxen curls, earthy entrancing scent, jaw-dropping dimples and eternally lithe and youthful frame. The very last of those caused Violet to shudder involuntarily. Thoughts of his body made her think of their night together last Halloween, which in turn made her body begin to pant.

Sure, she knew she had felt emotionally deprived but this was the first time she had felt so despairingly physically deprived. She felt her flesh heat up all over and she felt her folds begin to pulsate and tingle. Though it wasn't an altogether foreign feeling, the intensity of it was. It was such an uncontrollable and consumming need that she started to lightly rub herself. However, when she realized what she was doing, she stopped and got up.

She ran to the bathroom, got in the shower and doused herself with cold water. Violet didn't care if she was dressed; all she wanted was to calm the burn that had suddenly and so ardently developed throughout her body. She so desperately wanted to climb on top of Tate and fuck him that she needed the cold to eliminate the desire. She wanted to fuck him and it wasn't even for purely physical reasons. Yes she desired him but, truth be told, she wanted to exorcise her demons and his through sex. Maybe it seemed infantile to "fuck her problems away", but her mind didn't care. Her mind and her body wanted it.

It was a difficult inner struggle for Violet. She already had to make the conscious decision of not being with the one who made her the happiest; the decision of not giving in to her desires out of a sense of duty to her family and out a sense of guilt. Her mind had made that decision for her and so it seemed easy. This was another matter entirely. This was her body and her instincts and they were harder to control.

* * *

Her desperation reached such lengths that she thought about getting Travis to do her a favor. A sexual favor, of course, seeing as that was the only thing he was really good for when it came to grown women. She went so far as to approach him but, just as she was going to kiss him, her stomach churned; it was telling her that she couldn't and wouldn't touch Travis the same way she had touched Tate. Having her lips ghost over the Boy Dahlia's made her brain build its own defense mechanism.

She thought of Tate's lips and she thought of the very essence that entrapped her to him no matter the physical distance. Her bind to him created a state of complete and total distance from reality. She pressed her lips to Tate's; it was Tate's tongue caressing the inside of her mouth. It was his hands and fingers running over her body and stripping her of her clothing. Finally, when her delirium reached an all time high, it was Tate's cock that pierced her wet and wanton flesh. For a brief moment, however, she sensed that something was wrong…the act and the sensation of it felt wrong. Her delirium snapped, she came back to reality and Violet then realized she was on top of Travis.

For a second she reacted in complete horror at what she had done. Her face melted into an expression of sheer terror and disgust. Travis, with his eyes closed and mouth agape, continued to find pleasure and comfort in her nubile body. Whilst he did that, Violet was about three seconds away from throwing up and killing him. It was then that her hallucinations came back and, to her, it seemed that she was again straddling Tate. Then and only then was she able to cum. Imagining Tate's face contorted in pleasure, his curls sticking to his forehead with perspiration and his lips open and about to utter 'I love you' did it for her. Ecstasy rolled off her body in waves and she breathed his name.

"Tate."

"Nooo. Travis."-The Boy Dahlia said in a sing-song voice.

Violet opened her eyes, looked down to confirm that her worst nightmare had been realized and got off him rapidly.

"Why would I do that?"-Violet said nervously running her hand through her hair.

"I don't know."-Called Tate's voice from the doorway. He looked upset (rightfully so) and seemed about to cry.

* * *

Violet quickly gathered her clothes and said:

"Tate, I'm sorry."

He looked through Violet and at the wall behind her. Not a word was spoken for a few minutes. Violet finished getting dressed and again said:

"I'm sorry, Tate."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Vi. It's not like we're dating or anything. You're free to do whatever you want."-He said this while looking like he had all those years ago when she had said goodbye: heart-broken and with dead eyes. He was quietly and internally shattering. His face was a mixture of pain and indifference. He tried so heavily to appear the latter but the former trickled through somehow. He left the room.

"Tate! Wait!"- Violet said running out after him, but it was too late. He had disappeared right after he had entered the kitchen. She lost him after that. Violet would never have thought that this would happen. She never thought she would have let her urges get the better of her in the most disgusting of ways and she never would have thought that she would've killed part of her insides in the process.

* * *

Sure, she felt obligated to stay away from Tate for her parent's sake but she never wavered in her clandestine affections. No matter what, she knew part of her…all of her, is she was being completely honest, firmly belonged to Tate; that part, those affections were always constant. She had broken that constant with the horrendous act she had committed with Travis. She pressed her back to one of the counters and melted against it until she finally collapsed onto the floor and her eyes burst with uncontrollable tears. She hated this feeling…this ache and pain within her that she could not control.

Hours later, she had become fully prostrate on the kitchen floor. She hadn't spoken to anyone that had come to talk to her, she merely looked at the ceiling. As dusk reached its end and night made its timely appearance, Violet softly spoke a sonnet written long ago. A sonnet she knew he would know; one that he might as well have written to her because of what they had. And what they had was something that, in her mind, she had accidentally and permanently shattered.

"_Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art_

_Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night_

_And watching with eternal lids apart_

_Like nature's patient, sleepless eremite_

_The moving waters at their priest-like task_

_Of pure ablution round Earth's human shores_

_Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask_

_Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-_

_No- yet still steadfast, still unchangeable_

_Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast_

_To feel for ever its soft fall and swell_

_Awake for ever in sweet unrest_

_Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath_

_And so live ever- or else she swoon to death."_

Even if she were to find him and tell him that she was finally giving in and telling him that she would be with him, she felt disgusted with what she had done. What were the odds that, after what Tate saw, he would still consider her as his? She was sure Tate thought she wanted Travis even if she had said sorry to him and run right after him.

* * *

She was half-right. Tate didn't exactly know if Travis was whom Violet wanted but he did think he was better for her. For one, Travis was dead and it wasn't Tate's fault. Secondly, her parents would be ok with Violet going out with him. Travis might be a little dim-witted in comparison to Violet, but he always seemed nice and, from what Tate could assess from Violet's reaction, an appropriate lover. That last thought stung him. It hurt too much to have seen Violet be with and climax with someone else even if she had called him during it (_"But it's just the price I pay"_). He had always thought of Violet as his even if he always put her needs and wants above his own. But this time things were different.

She wouldn't be alone, she would have comfort of someone who wasn't tainted throughout life and death. He felt like shit on the inside for just giving her up and merely holding onto his hope, but he knew he had to do it. The fact that it was Travis didn't make him feel any better. Then again, Violet being with anyone else wouldn't make him feel any better. At least Travis was a good guy…and he was already dead.

He went upstairs to see Violet; to just look upon her in way of remembrance as he often did. When he found that she wasn't in her room, he walked around until he found her on the kitchen floor. When he saw her lying down, taking puffs from her cigarette and absent-mindedly muttering _Bright Star_ on a nonending loop, his heart stung again. He had hurt her once more.

* * *

"Vi?"-He said making himself visible and waking her up from her daze. Her head snapped towards him.

"Tate?"-She questioned anxiously, questioning whether or not he was a figment of her imagination.

"Violet, what are you doing?"

"Tate."-She said in a bewildered state. She got up in a flash and wrapped her arms around him, drinking in his scent and relaxing into his frame. She muttered his name again, half mad, in comfort. She recalled how he had once said: _It's fine now, I'm here- _and reveled in how true that statement had been then and how true it was now. He could never, in Violet's mind, fathom how hard it had been for her to cope ever since Halloween. He could never understand how autumn had rapidly become winter and she had been left out in the cold. How everything had died except for that tiny flicker of light insider her that had clung to the memories of them like he had once clung to hard drugs.

How ironic it was that while she thought him incapable of understanding, he knew exactly what that was like. Not only did he know what that felt like but he had dealt with it for much longer and without any sense of safety from being part of a happy family.

Tate gently untangled Violet and gently pushed her back a bit to look into her eyes. They were looking at him but she still seemed dazed. She appeared half-present. He got worried.

"Violet?"

"Yeah?"

"Violet, something wrong is going on with you. Snap out of it!"

"Of course something's wrong!"-She yelled finally breaking herself out of her self-imposed haze. "I slept with Travis! I…I'm disgusted with myself for doing that to you."

"To me?"

"Yes. I just wanted so badly to be with you and I thought…"

"Violet, just stop. You haven't done anything to me. You wanted to be with Travis, so be with Travis. He's better for you than I am."

"No, Tate, you don't understand…"

"I'm sure it's even for your own good. You don't want to be tempted by me, you want to make your parents happy, so Travis seems like the perfect choice. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm happy about it but if you're happy then I'll be fine. Just promise me you won't get like this anymore, you won't freak out and become crazy and…"

"Tate!"-Violet yelled.

"What?"

"Shut up. Just shut up. Honestly, you're brilliant but you can be such an idiot sometimes. I don't want Travis. I would never want him."

"But I saw you two…"

"I said shut it. Let me explain. You know I said your name. Did it ever occur to you that I did it because I thought I was on top of **you**?"

Tate shook his head.

"Well I was. I thought it was you. That just proves how insane I've gotten. When I saw it was Travis, I just…and then you were there and you saw me…urgh."-She said looking away from him.

"Vi, I just thought. Shit, I just wanted better for you."

"Do me a favor and stop it! I know you care about me but stop trying to do what you think is best for me! My parents force me into that already and I hate when they do it! Why won't any of you just let me do what I want?"

She walked away from him and looked out the window. Her eyes were wild as she lit a cigarette and continued ranting.

"I am sick and tired of doing what everyone expects me to do. I've actually lost my mind and I'm pretty sure this hellhole of a house is smiling because of it. I hate what you've done in the past but I love you regardless and after Halloween it's just become torture for me. I don't know why I thought things would get better. Maybe I'm just whining, but I think for once I'm going to follow what I feel and not what my brain says. I think I deserve to be happy."

She turned around to look at him. His eyes were hopeful but he didn't dare smile. Tate didn't want to get his hopes up at all only to have her condition their time together like last time.

"What are you saying, Violet?"

"I'm saying I want to be with you. I can live with the guilt but I can't just go on having bouts of insanity and constant pain because I miss you." She was silent for a moment, she looked down and then whispered: "And I can't keep punishing you. I can't."

"You don't have to do this, Violet. I can wait until Halloween."

"You can but I can't. Didn't you say you'd leave me alone if that was what I **wanted**? I don't want you to leave me alone. I want you to forgive me and to be with me."

"Forgive you? For the thing with Travis?"

She nodded.

"There's nothing to forgive, Violet. And even if there were, do you really think that I wouldn't forgive you for something so stupid when you are so willing to forget everything **I've** done? It hurt to see you with him, but I can handle it."

"Please don't chop him up."

He laughed. "No. I think you can do that all on your own if you wanted to."-He said with a smile on his face.

She smiled back at him and grabbed his hands. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her body by just grabbing Tate's hands. Violet knew how depressed she had felt but up until this very moment, she hadn't truly realized how deeply she had been drowning in sorrow and longing. She felt like she had been saved from finally reaching the cold, desolate and tenebrous bottom waters of the Acheron river. Tate leaned forward and gave he a small peck, which she gladly returned. He hugged her to him and together they relaxed with just a physical presence and only with the knowledge that they were going to be together at last.

* * *

However, their joyful moment was interrupted when Ben came in and saw them.

"Violet, what did I tell you?"-He said.

She held on to Tate's hand and they disappeared into their room. She quickly locked the door. She didn't want her parents to find out this way or at all if she was being honest. She wanted to be with Tate but she wanted to get her parents to slowly get used to the idea first. She scowled at herself for being so selfish. When her father tried banging into the room moments later and asked her what the meaning of this was, she got angry and said:

"It's called privacy. I'm not a little girl anymore. I haven't been for decades! Leave me alone."

"Violet, you come out of there this instant."

"No, why should I? Bitch all you want but I'm going to stay in here."

Ben left after that. Violet knew it wasn't going to be good. This was going to be the moment when the guilt was going to begin eating her up. If it weren't for Tate's long fingers wrapping themselves around her small palm, she would've lost it again. She leaned into him and took a deep breath.

"You didn't want them to know about us, did you?"

"Not right now. I wanted to ease them into it."

"I get that."

"Yeah. I know it's going to be hard for them and I doubt when they fully realize what's going on that they are going to talk to me for a long time."

Tate sighed gently. "You can still change your mind. You can go outside and tell your dad that you had a moment of weakness and things can go back to how they were."

"What did I tell you, Tate? I'm doing what I want for once and there's nothing you can say that can change my mind. Besides, I already locked us in here."-She said coyly smiling at him. They kissed.

* * *

Now they seemed like they had been all those years ago before Violet had found out what he had done to her family. They seemed like the happy couple they had been that recent and fateful Halloween night when they had left all their troubles behind. It was them, before the collision and somehow after it, while still being blissfully happy. They could play Scrabble or cards, they could hold each other for hours on end, read novels and poetry or make love. Whatever they did, however, they would do while being devoid of pain.

There was a small niggling feeling of guilt on Violet's part, but it was completely overshadowed by her comfort and her joy. She didn't express it by skipping or smiling like a fool, but she expressed it by feeling normal again. Being inside that room with Tate, she felt relaxed and at home for the first time in a long time. No matter the guilt that she felt for betraying her parents, she still enjoyed the lightness that her Tate brought her and she would do everything she could to make him feel just the same.

On Tate's end, it was much more than lightness...it was a shining beacon of good things to come. He could not and would not understand her decision to be with him, would never understand his luck. He had never believed in all that religious mumbo jumbo but if there was a man living in the clouds controlling everything (if he was the one that had made every single one of these things happen) then he'd probably have to, reluctantly, say thanks to said entity. What he and Violet had gone through had been enough shit to drive people insane over six different lifetimes, but they were getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. He was with his light again and she wanted him again despite his flaws and despite all the atrocities that he had committed. He no longer had to separate his wants from hers and, despite himself, he felt amazed and relieved at this. He felt content just to feel again, to have her in his arms and have sentiments that superseded any and all of the sentiments of anger and nothingness that he had had previous to her. Violet had saved him and with her recent acceptance, she turned him into the happiest ghost he could have ever dreamed of being.

* * *

Suddenly there was a scream outside their door. They were a bit startled by the suddenness of it and briefly broke apart but after the noise passed, they dismissed it and kissed again. Unbeknownst to them, a civil war was about to commence outside their door. Their room would be their only salvation from the crossfire of the inexplicably abrupt nature of the unending violence that would take place.


	6. Safe & Sound The Civil War

**A/N:**

**Sorry for the long waiting time everyone. I would never abandon this fic though. This chapter took a long time to write for many reasons but especially because a lot seemed to go on (in my head) and details were everywhere. This chapter alone has it's own playlist because of it. The division of the factions are below in list form so there's no confusion. Thanks to all the followers and reviewers. This chapter goes out to the awesome Stella.**

******Warning: Violence (though nothing too graphic).**

* * *

**White Faction:**

1. Ben H.

2. Vivien H.

3. Moira O.

4. Patrick

5. Travis

6. Elizabeth S.

7. Phil

8. Gladys

9. María

**Black Faction:**

1. Hayden M.

2. Charles M.

3. Thaddeus M.

4. Chad

5. Bryan

6. Troy

7. Fiona

8. Dallas

9. Lorraine

10. Hugo

**Grey Faction:**

1. Violet H.

2. Tate L.

**Neutral:**

1. Angela

2. Margaret

3. Beau

4. Baby Harmon

5. Nora M.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Safe & Sound (The Civil War)

_I remember tears streaming down your face_

_When I said, I'll never let you go_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said, Don't leave me here alone_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_..._

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_..._

_Don't you dare look out your window _

_Darling, everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold onto this lullaby_

_Even when the music's gone_

_..._

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_..._

_Just close your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound._-Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift

* * *

**Part One:**

[Civil war: when two or more opposing parties resort to arms to settle a conflict.]

A civil war broke out amongst the souls of the Murder House because of Hayden. When earlier Violet had thought that her father had backed away from her door, she had been wrong. Hayden had merely found a way to silently choke the raging man and make him collapse onto the hallway floor without creating noise. Hayden then proceeded to do what she does best: stab her prey until they are internally shredded beyond immediate repair. It was during her shockingly quiet stabbing of Dr. Harmon that Mrs. Harmon appeared on the landing.

When Vivien was suddenly faced with her husband's body being desecrated by the demon that is Hayden, she couldn't contain her scream. Mrs. Harmon lost it and with all her strength tackled Hayden to the ground and away from her husband. She called the red-headed bitch all the names she deserved while she wrung her hands forcefully around the young woman's neck. The twins appeared as she was doing this. Troy swung his bat firmly on Vivien's back making her automatically let go of Hayden. It was a fruitless attempt of saving her for Hayden had already suffocated, but the intent had been clear. Their allegiance had been pledged. While Vivien tried to get up the boys continued their bat assault. Unfortunately for them, Ben chose that moment to wake up. He grabbed their bats, threw them away and knocked their heads together.

Hayden had gotten up again and this time it was Moira who chose to take the demon mistress off the grid even if it was for a little while. Moira had found an old iron frying pan and carried it with her when she went up to the second floor after she heard Vivien's scream. As Hayden charged towards the Harmon couple, Moira knocked her on her head with a hard smack yet all the while retained a calm demeanor.

"What is the meaning of all this?"-She asked.

"Hayden attacked me."-Ben answered.

"You refused her advances again, I presume?"

"I always do but she didn't try anything this time. She just attacked me for no reason."

"When I saw her stabbing him, I retaliated."-Vivien said with a small smile on her face.

"Can't say I blame you. Oh well. The boys came in to aid her?"-Moira said looking at the unconscious twins.

"I guess. I can say this: I'm glad I'm already dead or I would be having serious back pain."-Vivien said wryly.

* * *

The incidents escalated. It wasn't just Ben and Vivien getting attacked, however. Scarcely anyone was exempt from the gallows. Chad would snap Moira's neck when he got upset over the deserted state of the house. Lorraine would burn the Dahlia's face with her hands when the infamous beauty found a mirror in which to look at her reflection. Dallas and Fiona reached their shitty goal in life and reenacted Maria and Gladys' murders...using the ladies themselves. For some strange reason, the house was going out of whack and few seemed unaffected by it.

Nora was always crying and never really knew what was going on. Angie, Margaret, Beau and the baby were completely innocent of anything going on between the other souls. The first three knew what was going on but they didn't know what to do and chose to stay out of it and be peaceful…no matter if their family members got involved in one of the factions. Lastly, Tate and Violet were unaware that anything was going until days aftet the war had formed.

* * *

After Violet had locked them in their room, that was where they had stayed. They did find it odd that no one so much as tried talking to them, but they chalked it up to good fortune. They became alive within their reunion. The long dormant happy sides of their souls were alight once more, locking their misery in a cage to be forgotten. At first their joining consisted only of innocent touches and playing games like they had in the past before things had gone to hell. That eventually came to an end when Violet, who still burned for Tate as she had before she had mistaken Travis for him, tackled him onto the ground and kissed him with passion and lust. She was bold and repeatedly ground herself onto his crotch, creating a delectable friction that tore down the wall of self-control that he had worked so hard to have.

They stayed within the comfort of each other's arms and of their rekindled romance while a war continued to rage outside of their blissful bubble.

The lines had been divided and soon, Tate and Violet would be made to choose of which side they would be a part. Rather, Violet would have to choose, because there was absolutely no probability that Tate would be accepted within the so-called "White" side of the war. Indeed, the sides had been divided in simple chess colors: the white and the black.

* * *

Unfortunately for the white, the black side had a one-soul advantage. It was not a very helpful soul, seeing as Hugo didn't do much, but having an additional immortal body willing to do harm was better than nothing.

Hayden and Chad were the ringleaders of this black side. The spurned lovers used their catty natures to control their small army. This side was good at the direct attacks. They were masters at the gore necessary to please their dark desire for carnal destruction. Besides, they had Charles on their side and he really knew how to cut people up to Hayden's specifications and satisfaction. After all, Hayden wanted to make certain that the deaths would be prolonged and that it would be as painful as possible for them.

* * *

The white side, however, had an advantage that the other side could not make up for with their extra soul. The white side had three well-built grown men who could kick some serious ass if need be. They had Phil the exterminator and Moira, who combined had a vast knowledge of any and every poison that they could get within their physical limitations. Then, of course, there were Gladys and Maria who knew their way around a tub. There was strength in the smaller team in that they were more tactical and attacked only in defense. Their plans were more organized and they prepared for the battlefield like actual military generals sweating in nervousness whilst dodging bullets. They had strength despite being outnumbered by one.

* * *

And all the while blood was being shed and limbs were being torn off and reattached, Angie and Margaret hid with Beau in the attic. As for the baby, he was always safe. The person taking care of him was not to be harmed while they were with him; that was the only term within the war that the black side would follow.

Tate and Violet remained ignorant…until the loyal old maid decided to tell the girl what was going on.

_It was the worst of times_ couldn't properly describe the moment in which Moira chose to knock on the door that had remained locked for nearing a week. Right at the moment that she had knocked on the door, the two immortal teenagers were taking care of their perpetually frantic sexual appetites.

Strangely, before they had had their night together at the beach, neither had really had their hormones in such a high as they were now. Somehow, this second time around, they could barely keep their hands off each other. They eventually realized that this was a phase that most couples go through and that they had never experienced because of everything that had being going on around them before their big break-up. Whether a phase or not, the fact remained that they were, for all intents and purposes, having a marathon of debauchery.

So when Moira had knocked on the door, Tate was buried deep within Violet as he sat on the bed with his arms holding her back and she had her legs wrapped around his lower back and her arms around his neck like a vice…unwilling to let him go. They kissed as they smolderingly moved in synchronization and were about to reach their completion when Moira spoke:

"Violet? I must speak with you. You've been in there for a week."

They broke the kiss, so that Violet could speak. They didn't stop, however, which made it difficult for the girl to form a coherent sentence.

"Not right...fuck...not right now, Moira. I'm kind of...hmm...in the middle of something."

"It's urgent."

And just like that, the lovers reached their climaxes and each one produced the name of the other. He uttered her name like a prayer and she sung his like a siren's song. After this they smiled at each other, he gave her a peck and Violet got off him and pulled his sweater over her head. The sweater was so big on her that it reached to mid thigh. Tate giggled at the sight as Violet cracked the door open just a sliver. There was Moira looking at her with a knowing look.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted your intimate moment with that monster of yours, but chaos has ensued out here in reality."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean that out here where the rest of us aren't consumed by fornication, a small war has started."

"A war?"

"Yes. Just three hours ago your mother was dragged to the basement and Charles gave her an autopsy…while she was still conscious."

"What the fuck?"

"Yes, exactly. Hayden and Chad have formed their own little brute squad and the rest of us are trying to barricade ourselves in the way that you two are somehow able to do. Every single time that that fails, we attack in defense. They have a one person advantage and your parents and I would love it if you would help us."

Violet thought about it for a moment and then looked back into the room where Tate was waiting for her (in a very inviting position if she was being completely honest). Then she looked back at Moira.

"What about Tate?"

"What about him?"

"Can he join too?"

"You must be joking. You are aware that your parents detest even the thought of him?"

Violet gave her a devilish smile. "I do. I hate the fact that they're getting blown to bits but if Tate's not a part of the equation I'm just going to have to think things through. I sacrificed my happiness for them for too long to just give it up. I'll help you guys out for now, but I'm not strictly speaking your ally."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that I'm making myself happy and that I have a psycho at hand and I'm not afraid to use him."

"I don't mind being used!"-Tate yelled from the inside. This made Violet chuckle.

"Are you telling me that you are going to be selfish at this critical moment?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you. If they had asked me a week and a half ago, I would have said yes blindly even if it just continued to make me miserable. Right now, I have to think about it. Oh and tell them to consider my boyfriend as a way into my heart."

With that Violet shut the door.

* * *

"The nerve of them."-She said.

"You should help them."

"Since when are you favoring them over me?"

"I'm not. I'm saying that if the guilt is going to eat you alive then you should go help them."

"I wasn't bullshitting Moira. I have to think about it. My mind is halfway to cementing that it's either the both of us or nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"If you keep asking me that I am going to go insane. Yes, I'm sure. You said it yourself years ago: _It's you and me together for always._"

He smiled at her as she climbed back into bed with him, wrapping herself around him and encasing him in her affection. They remained calm for a long period of time. Then something hammered their door. They got up in a flash and realized that the black side of the war was about to breach their protection.

"Shit. What do we do?"-Violet said expectantly.

* * *

If there was anyone prepared for this war, it was Tate. He had been violent enough for several lifetimes to have at least a vague idea of what to do.

"We protect ourselves. I've got your back, Violet."

They quickly got dressed as the door started breaking. They just put on the basics and Violet started looking for the pair of scissors she had seen lying around in the closet. She found them and hid them behind her back. Better safe than sorry after all.

The door finally broke and in came Hayden with a crazed look in her eye.

"Finally. You two are a bunch of pussies. Frankly, I can't take anymore of this 'letting you two be because you're getting back together' bullshit."-She then turned to Violet. "Let's get real here princess, I need your little demonic boy toy and you have to run along to your family and be a good girl."

Chad appeared in the door at that moment. "Oh, don't be mistaken red. You said it yourself, little Ms. Plath over here got back together with Bates. She's not going to abandon him. She's not Pat."

Tate scoffed. "You two couldn't work things out? That's rich."

Chad rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to dignify that statement with an answer.

Hayden continued. "So, what will it be, Byron? Are you with us? We could use your skills."

"No thanks. I go where Violet goes."

"And there's no way in hell that I'd ever join you, you crazy bitch."

Hayden sighed. "You two upset our plans. Oh well."

Like always, Hayden gave a frontal, expected attack. This time, however, she didn't carry a knife. She picked up the pickaxe she had used to break the door and she swung it in Tate's general direction. He dodged it and Violet sighed in relief. Chad took her distraction as an opportunity and tried to kill her. He grabbed her from behind and was about to strike. Unfortunately for him, Violet had kneed men in the balls before and she took this opportunity to do so. Chad let her go in reflex just as Hayden managed to scrape Tate's arm.

Something in Violet snapped when she saw Tate wincing from the sting of the cut. Violet used all her strength to grab the pickaxe from Hayden. She managed to knock it to the ground, got the scissors from behind her back and shoved them straight into Hayden's trachea. Chad had straightened himself and scoffed when he saw it.

"So you _aren't_ defenseless?"

"No I'm not. She pissed me off. And her voice is annoying as fuck. Had to shut her up."-She said as Tate grabbed the axe and struck Hayden right in the lung.

Violet looked back at it and almost laughed. No matter how tough she thought she was, Hayden always wound up with a cut or bruises from her demonic endeavors. The couple looked at Chad who was actually impressed. Chad liked the fact that, apparently, Frankenstein had a bride who was just as deadly as he was.

"I suggest you leave."-Tate said.

Chad felt compelled to do so fearing that the two teenagers would stab him next. He started to leave the room when Violet's voice stopped him.

"Do us a favor and take her with you."

Chad returned for Hayden's body. Before he could movie it, Tate removed the axe and Violet removed the scissors. Now all that was left of Hayden was an unconscious body with two gaping holes in them. Chad dragged Hayden away. Tate and Violet sighed in relief.

* * *

"Moira wasn't kidding."-Tate said.

"No. I suggest we take them down."

"What about your family?"

"They can hold their own. It's you and me…"

"Together for always."-He finished for her and grabbed her bloodied hand with his.

The sun was going down as the two of them went up to the attic and found an extra door they could use. They set the door up as quickly as they could and locked themselves in the room once they had finished. Their room was now much more than their love nest...it was their shelter. They knew that they couldn't hide from the rest of the house forever, but they could at least have somewhere to rest. Much like Beau's inexplicable safety zone in the attic, Violet and Tate's bedroom was protected.

Why this happened no one knew, but it was helpful. Tate and Violet faced their noble war. They were neither light nor dark but the shade of grey in between and they needed to be left alone because of it. So as night approached, they held each other and waited. Waited for the storm that was surely to come; the storm they would have to face together. They waited for their moments of peace to become lasting memories that they could recall during what was bound to be a bloodshed of the undead.

The promise of safety in the morning was not likely but it didn't matter. They were together now after years of emotional torture and that's what counted the most. Even if they hadn't gotten closer this past week, these violent events would have done it for them. The war and its subsequent attacks cemented their bond. It was now unbreakable.

* * *

**Part Two:**

When the morning sun broke through their windows, they untangled their intertwined limbs and went out to face what the factions could bring. As they left the room, they walked with slight trepidation. However, everything was still. Not a creak could be heard throughout the house. Eventually, they found themselves in the backyard and they lie down on the grass to soak up some sun. Tate and Violet kept vigilant as their hands remained clasped together and as they felt the small weapons they were carrying (a Swiss army knife and scissors, respectively) dig into their backs.

The storm broke. A scream was heard from the inside of the house and the couple got up to investigate. In the kitchen they found that Dallas had tied Moira with some rope and Lorraine was burning bits of the maid up. They gave each other a look and without words planned the proper course of action. Tate easily took care of Dallas who just stood there looking at the marring of flesh like someone who had been lobotomized. Tate used his strength and kicked Dallas in the legs so hard that they broke and when the dimwit lay on the ground, he shoved his Swiss army knife into the broken man's temple. Meanwhile, Violet got Lorraine away from Moira. No violence was necessary. Violet simply told Lorraine that she felt the poor woman's pain. Somehow, Lorraine disappeared at those words and Moira was untied.

That type of event occurred frequently during the next few weeks. Tate and Violet (especially Violet) rescued people from attacks. The lines started blurring when they just saved anyone being attacked regardless of which side they were on. The lines between the good and the bad continued to blur when the two would savagely murder anyone who so much as touched a hair on their significant other's head. Tate repeatedly bashed Charles' brains in against the floor after he had tried to perform a "procedure" on Violet. Violet set Patrick's face on fire and threw him out the window when she saw Tate receiving a beat down at the hands of the hulking man.

* * *

The war was going strong for a while and they would only have their room for sanctuary. When the sun went down they would hold each other through the night or make love and pray that the next day would be less violent and horrible than the day before. It usually never was but they enjoyed each night regardless. They treated their time together as if it were their last, knowing that when morning came they would have to fight tooth and nail just to get some peace and quiet.

Days passed and the house became more violent. Violet forced poison down Chad's throat. Tate chopped off Hayden's head. Together, Tate and Violet used a long rope to strangle the twins when they were hurting Travis and Elizabeth. There was unending bloodshed left and right. Luckily enough for everyone, Ben had kept away from Violet and Tate and they had kept away from both Ben and Vivien.

* * *

Eventually things started dying down. Everyone was getting tired of going on living day after day with one violent act or another. Besides, they were running out of ways to kill each other…especially because there were no guns around. However, Tate and Violet had a little fun when there was a high concentration of the black side in the basement.

"Wanna have some fun?"-Violet said with a smirk.

"I'm a bad influence on you aren't I?"

"No. I'd just really like to set them on fire."

"And I'm _not_ a bad influence?"

"Pfft. I've thought of throwing a Molotov cocktail at people before I moved to L.A."

"You want to throw a Molotov cocktail at them?"

"Yes. You game?"

"Yeah. Let me guess. You want to use the jars of parts with embalming fluid?"

"You read my mind. There's also a bit of gasoline in a container in the office for some reason. Combine the two and they'll get burnt to a crisp."

"I'm going to be a distraction while you get the jars. I'll meet you in the office."

Violet squeezed his hand and kissed him knowing that he'd end up with a bunch of scratches and bruises…possibly a maimed limb, but that he was doing it for her. She would never ask it of him but there was no way in hell that he would change his mind about it now even if she used sex to change his mind. "I love you."-She said.

"I love you too."-He responded and went down the stairs. He thought he would simply be beat up a bit or maybe stabbed. Those, however, were not the plans. He was surprised to have the infamous surgeon's hands disembowel him.

Violet looked away and contained her sobs as she heard Tate's painful screams and got the jars out of the basement. Once she got them out and put them in the office, she grabbed a rake from the backyard and went back into the basement. She swung the garden tool into Charles' side and the doctor automatically dropped his surgical tools. The light in Tate's eyes had died already, but that didn't mean that Violet couldn't have her revenge. She took the rake out and swung again and again. Hayden, Chad, the twins and Charles all received a decent raking. As the five demonic souls lay on the ground in pain, Tate woke up and noticed Violet's distraught, blood splattered face.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm here."

"I know. I just don't enjoy watching you die. Especially not like that. I thought there were just going to rough you up a bit."

"I'm fine. How about you and I get out of here before they all heal?"

"Ok."

He grabbed her hand and led her out of the basement. They locked the door in an attempt to keep them down there. They quickly mixed the gasoline and embalming fluid. Moira brought them old cloths to use as a wick and Violet pulled out the lighter she had been using for the past few weeks.

When they opened the door of the basement, they were relieved when they saw that the enemies were still plotting something. Tate grabbed Violet's lighter and set one of the cloths on fire. Violet threw the jar directly at Troy's head and was happy when it blew up. Tate lit and threw the other jar toward Hayden. The basement became a small inferno. A few minutes later, Moira came to their aid and the three of them let tons of water cascade down the stairs and to the burning freaks. It was one thing to set people on fire and it was another to burn the house down and possibly disappear.

"Nice work. It was about time someone used fire in a bigger way."-Moira said.

Tate and Violet smiled at Moira and walked off to their room.

* * *

When the doors locked, the immortal duo let all hell break loose.

As they had both gotten justificatory progressively violent, their sex life had sparked. There was just something about watching each other hurt douchebags that turned them on like crazy. They all but ripped their clothes off each other's bodies and were consumed by the still lingering adrenaline from their successful attacks. They fell to the floor with a bang and whispered 'I love you' before losing complete control. She scratched his back in a harsh manner that made him bleed and he held her so tight that he left the imprint of his hands on her waist and hips.

They, essentially, hurt each other while they fucked because that was the way that they wanted it at the moment. There was nothing soft about what they were doing. They were as violent in the bedroom as they were in the war. Outwardly passionate about each other like they hadn't been before, rough but efficient and completely savage. Indeed, not only were they causing bruises on each other, they had remnants of blood splatters from their previous actions. It spurred them on. It was a completely raw moment that debased them and so they gave over to their most primitive instincts. And when they had gone on for longer than they expected, their crescendo drew more screams than any murder they had committed or had been submitted to.

The aftermath was quiet. They waited to heal as their limbs intertwined in a sweaty, slightly bloody mass from which it was difficult to tell where he ended and she began. His face lay buried in the crook of her neck and his breathing was ragged but all the while he pressed loving kisses onto her skin. She had her hand placed upon her heart as it calmed down from its previous over-exertion and her hair fanned out around her head like a tangled halo. The debasement had ended. They were safe and loving in each other's arms again.

* * *

A few weeks passed and the sides came to a settlement of temporary peace. However, one final act of violence would change things for Violet. She and Tate were having a pleasant conversation underneath the gazebo when Ben popped out of nowhere and snapped Tate's neck. Violet felt the rage course through her like never before. It was even worse than when she heard Tate scream when Charles was hurting him. She walked towards her father and faked giving him a loving hug. In midst hug, Violet stabbed her father's eye with her trusty pair of scissors.

"You don't get to harm Tate!"-She yelled at him.

"Violet!"-He said as he screamed in pain and disappointment.

"I told you! I love you dad but I'm sick of you making me miserable."

Ben ran out as he held what was left of his eye within its socket. Violet then turned her attention to Tate who looked like he was sleeping. She held him and waited for him to wake up. When he did smiled as he saw her face.

With that final ounce of bloodshed, the house seemed to have gotten what it wanted and everything went as back to normal as it possibly could have. The maiming of that eye, however, would be the final straw between the separation of Violet and Tate from Ben and Vivien. The four of them now had no excuse to have the confrontation they needed to have.


	7. Cutting In

**A/N: **_Hey there everyone! Sorry it took me a while, I couldn't get this chapter just right without some help. And the exchange had me a bit entertained. If you haven't read the fics, do so for the good of your Violate-ing souls. ^_^ Thanks to all my reviewers and followers, as always. Special thanks to vamphorrorstory for helping me out (this one's for you, B). Be prepared to hate Ben more than you already do. _

* * *

Chapter Eight: Cutting In

_ "You're a wild child_

_You humiliate your family"_

_[…]_

_Revelry starts in purgatory_

_Let's shake our horns and tails_

_And leave eternal rest for later_

_[…]_

_"If loving you is a sin_

_I will gladly burn_

_In hell next to you"_-Tango of Sin

* * *

Only a few minutes had passed before Vivien knocked on Tate and Violet's door.

"What do you want?"-Violet said.

"Why did you stab your father in the eye?"

"Why did he kill my boyfriend?"

"Violet, are you seriously back together with Tate?"

"Yes. I am. Do you have a problem with that?"

"I think it's best if you come out of your little love nest and come talk to me."

Violet didn't want to move. Truth be told she was perfectly happy in the position in which she found herself. She and Tate lay one next to the other on the floor, their sides pressed together and their hands were intertwined. She looked at Tate and he gave her a look. She sighed and got up.

"Fine. Give me a minute!"-She said to her mother. Then to Tate: "Why?"

"You love your mother. She's not an evil bitch like Constance. Give her a chance. Besides, she's gotten close to forgiving me, so I know that she's an open minded person."

"Ok."

* * *

Violet exited the room and saw her mother standing in the hall with a tentative smile on her face. Vivien had missed her daughter and felt like there was a talk long overdue between the two of them. She was, after all, a bit more reasonable than her husband.

The two of them sat down in the kitchen across from one another and Violet said:

"So talk."

"Did you really get angry enough at your father that you had to stab him in the eye?"

"He was being a dick. That is not my fault."

"Because he killed Tate."

"Yep. I know you're aware that I'm with him."

"I do. I don't necessarily approve, but I know."

"Why don't you approve? He told me you were close to forgiving him."

"And I am. I know he's just a confused psychopath. Technically, it's not his fault. After all that mess with Nora, I can understand that he wanted to do the right thing but went about it in the worst possible way. The guy didn't know any better."

"If you know that, then what's the problem?"

"He's a psychopath, Violet. I don't know if he's ever going to snap at you or try to do the right thing but end up hurting you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Tate's never hurt me. Well…not really. I mean it hurt that he lied to me about what he did after he died but other than that…never. He tried to make me throw up those pills I swallowed. Tried to save me as best he could. Then he tried to make sure that I didn't suddenly find out I was dead. I mean he went about it in the '_worst possible way'_, but he did it for the right reasons. He just wanted me to be happy."

"Does he make you happy?"

"He does. They say people don't forget their first love; my first love won't _let_ me forget. Believe me, I've tried to forget him but that only made me more miserable than I could have imagined."

"I guess I can understand that. I mean, I forgave your father even after all the lies and all the pain he caused me."

"And you're happy with him?"

"I am." Vivien sighed. "Fine. I'm not saying that I approve of it, but I can let you be. If it's what makes you happy then it's okay. Talk to your father though…he's not going to be happy."

"Yeah, he's going to be a regular bowlful of sunshine. Maybe you should…I don't know…use your feminine wiles against him."

"This is one thing that I would never be able to convince him of. Just be careful and I'll stall him the best I can."

* * *

That plan didn't work. As much as Violet and Tate tried, whenever they were outside of their room, Ben would esentially stalk them. It's like they needed to hide from everyone just because Ben had a rage problem. Tate didn't want to hit Ben...he had gone down that road already and it hadn't ended well. Violet respected that, but she was getting sick of hitting her dad over the head with whatever heavy object she could get her hands on.

"Help me sometimes, Tate."-She said after she had knocked her dad out for the umpteenth time.

"I'm a violent man, Violet."-He said playfully while nipping at her neck. "Are you sure you want me to help you?"

"Yes. Have at it. I'm sick and tired of having to knock him out all by myself."

He laughed. "Okay. If you really insist."

They kissed and things got more heated. The prospect of being violent again got them hot. The aura of the house definitely affected them in this way. They thrived off the violence. The next time Ben tried to pry the two teenagers apart, it ended badly.

Tate had repressed some anger at the 'good doctor' and when Violet gave him the ok, he didn't feel the least bit of regret in defending himself. Ben had tried to strangle Tate, but Tate flipped his attacker before anything could happen. He swiftly broke Ben's neck and then he and Violet dug a hole in the backyard and buried him in it. Violet gave Tate a kiss when they finished and told him to wait for her back in their room. He left her and she waited for her dad to dig himself up. It was actually quite comical to see a large man use his fingers to escape out of a patch of dirt. Crawling out of the hole that he had made for himself.

* * *

Eventually he limped towards Violet, his face and clothes covered in dirt. His eyes were angry and as he got close to her, he snapped.

"Did you see what that maniac did to me?!"

"Of course, I did. I told him to defend himself. I was getting sick and tired of having to kill you myself."

"I told you to stay away from him and now look at what's happened. He's gotten you to kill me for the fun of it."

"Oh come on! Do you hear the words that come out of your mouth or is your brain on autopilot? You try to kill Tate every single time that you see us together. And I'm pretty sure you stalk us too."

"Don't exaggerate, Violet."

"I'm not! Every time that we leave our room it's like you're in a corner skulking behind us and just waiting for the best moment to pounce on him."

"I am not. I just get mad when I see you two together. He's not in love with you, Violet. He can't be. He's a monster."

Violet rolled her eyes at him. "What makes him so different than you, huh? A body count? Guess what? Monstrosity isn't only measured by the amount of people you've actually killed. I mean let's face it Ben, you've indirectly sent a lot of people to their deaths. Your patients either died or tried to commit suicide while you were treating them. You're a sham of a therapist; you've never actually helped people…you've just made their problems worse. That right there is monstrous. Not to mention that you cheated on mom. With Hayden. Yeah, you stuck your dick where you shouldn't have too. And you fucked Hayden up because of it. Then you killed her. You might not have been the one holding the shovel when it came in contact with her face but you are guilty. She died because of you. Then you lied about it and then you deluded yourself into thinking that you didn't build a gazebo over her corpse. You are as much of a murderer as Tate is…as much of a monster. And after all of that, mom forgave you. She forgave you for everything. Forgave you for what you did to her, to me and to everybody else. I'm a lot more like my mother than I thought I was. I was more than happy to forgive the man who hurt me my family and others. It took me a while to get there too, just like mom. Face it, at the end of the day, there aren't many differences between the two of you and the two of us. Are you honestly just going to deny me my happiness?"

"You'll never be happy with him. He's not good."

"He _is _good…for me. He makes _me_ happy. I've done what's right for you and mom for so long that I never considered what was right for me. You and mom have had each other for years now: blissful, nauseatingly perfect years. And all the while, I sat in a corner faking the smiles of a dutiful daughter but, on the inside, I was dying of longing and loneliness. You were a shitty dad in my last few days of life. You're even worse now. I hate you and no matter how much you want it, I will never give him up for you. Not ever again."

"Cut her some slack, Ben."-Said Vivien who had been hiding behind the bushes and listening to their conversation.

"Viv, how can you condone this? That guy is no good to her and he just killed me!"

"Get over yourself Ben. Violet's been miserable for years and we've both been too blind to notice. Look at where we live. Consider the fact _that _we live. There is no more white and black. I mean there was when we were defending ourselves agains the others, but now? For this? There is no right and wrong. There is just happiness and sadness. I don't know about you but I'd like for our daughter to be happy. We didn't bring her into this world to make her suffer. You're making her suffer. So do me a favor, lay off her and Tate for a while. Go compose yourself. Talk to your daughter when you have something more to say to her than how big of a disappointment you think she is."

Ben huffed and walked away from the two ladies.

* * *

Violet smiled at her mom and walked over to give her a hug. "Thanks for sticking out for me, mom."

"I've let you down before and I'm sorry. I've forgotten that I just want you to be happy. It's high time you get a reward for the bravery you showed all those years ago, anyway."

Violet chuckled.

"Would you like to have some tea with Moira and I?"

Violet nodded. Now that all of this was out in the open and her mother accepted it, she felt better. Like she could actually talk to her mother now. Not about her relationship, of course (that would be too weird), but talk to her in general. It hadn't felt like that between then since before they had moved to L.A.

The three ladies had their tea. Ben grabbed one of the bats from the twins and started bashing the gate outside. Everyone ignored him. None of the ghosts in the house, not even Hayden, were in a particular mood for his slaughter. I mean it sure would be nice for the guy to calm the hell down, but murdering him would likely fuel his anger.

Tate laughed when he saw Ben's outburst from the window and continued to read the book he had borrowed from Violet. It's not that he wouldn't have fun making Ben become more enraged but it really wasn't worth his time. Just because Violet had given him the ok, didn't mean he was going to have at it all the time. He'd said it before and he'd say it again, Violet had changed him. Even more so now that she had put all of the horrible crimes he had committed behind her.

In his opinion, he was a rich man. He had no money and no way of earning it. He didn't have fancy possessions: no cars, expensive electronics or designer clothes. None of that. In fact, he didn't even _own_ anything. But that didn't matter. He had the one thing he had wanted above all: he had the love of Violet Harmon. Loving her and _having_ her love meant everything to him.

* * *

When Ben had finished trying to wreck the iron gates, he walked into the kitchen to find Violet. She was still there with Moira and Vivien and they were going on about the lover's spat that Moira had seen take place between Chad and Patrick. They noticed the mad man at the door and merely looked at him with angered eyes.

"What, Ben?"-Vivien said. "Are you ready to calm down now or are you going to continue being stubborn and trying to hurt your daughter's feelings?"

"It's alright, mom. All I want from him is to recognize that he's a monster. Oh and to leave me and Tate alone."

"I am not a monster, Violet!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Do I have to be more blunt than I've already been?"

Ben just kept an angry stance and demeanor towards his daughter.

Violet sighed. "Fine. I'll show you. Come on."

Violet walked over to her dad and tried to grab his hand. He jerked it away from hers in disgust. Violet just stared at him.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to get Tate cooties all over you."

She grabbed her father's hand and took him to the basement. They didn't go deep into its darkness, because what she wanted to show him was near the stairs. There was Hayden, routinely fucking Travis. It took no longer than a second for Hayden to stab Travis over and over again. She remained on top of him while he recovered. When Travis did recover, she stabbed him again.

Violet looked back at her dad. "That. Is completely your doing."

Ben said nothing. He just looked at Hayden expressing the rage that she could never rid herself of. Violet left him there.

* * *

She appeared inside her room. She crossed her arms across her chest. Tate looked up from his book. She smiled at him.

"You're still reading Never Let Me Go."

"Yeah. It's getting good. Ruth just gave Cathy and Tommy the address of the Madame so they could get a deferral. I hope they go for it."

Violet bit her lip. She didn't want to ruin the novel for him. "The novel definitely gets good from that point forward."

Tate smiled at her brightly. "Good." He walked over to her and took her into his arms. He wasn't stupid. He knew that she was upset. He just didn't know what her dad had said to make her this way. If he knew her at all, and he was pretty confident that he did, she just needed to be held by him. That was just fine by him.

Tate carried Violet to the bed and this time, he wrapped himself around her. It wasn't typical of them, he knew, but the situation called for it. She was tired after all. He kissed her gently and let her fall asleep on him. When she woke hours later, Tate was looking at her with a smile on his face.

"What happened?"

"Nothing important. Just tired. My dad's being a complete asshole and it's exhausting to try to show him how big of an idiot he's being."

* * *

Something in Ben Harmon had snapped. He became darker than he had ever been before. He hated what his daughter had shown him. Hated what she had said to him. In fact, he was starting to hate his daughter and curse the day she was born. He carefully executed a most devious plan.

As it was, Violet never came out of her room without Tate. He knew it, but all he had to do was distract the little psychopath for a few minutes. He found the way to do it without seeming suspicious. He told Vivien that he would come around but that she should talk to Tate face to face and just confront him about everything. Vivien thought it was a good idea and told him she'd do so.

* * *

The next day, Violet and Tate were going to spend some time in the backyard when Vivien caught them as they opened the back door.

"Tate?"

The couple looked at her funny when she called the ghost boy.

"I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes. Just to clear the air."

Tate just stared at her like a scared little boy. Violet reassuringly squeezed his hand.

"I promise, I'm not going to yell…or kill you."

"Ok."-He responded in a frightened, childlike voice.

Violet gave him a peck. "I'll wait for you outside."

But before Violet could leave, her father stood at the doorway.

* * *

"I want to talk to you, Vi."-Her father said with kind and worried eyes. It seemed to her that either he had come to his senses or he was willing to let bygones be bygones. Either way, Violet thought that this ought to be good.

Like the good doctor that he was, he led Violet in what used to be his office and closed the door.

"What?"-She said, still unsure of what his words would bring.

But there were no words. What would seem unnatural to any living soul, was bound to happen in the Murder House. It was especially true now when a man found the nerve to violently murder his own offspring. He had been carrying a piece of rusty chain around in his pocket. He had found it the previous night in the basement and thought it perfect for the situation. So when Violet spoke and turned her back to him, he took it out of his pocket and strangled her.

Violet tried to pull the chain away from her neck but her father was by far stronger than she was. He was strong enough that he lifted her body off the ground as he choked her. She tried to make loud noises, but nothing came out. It couldn't. Violet had never been more scared in her entire life and her fear was even graver when she felt her eyes bulging and tears of pain running down her cheeks. Just before consciousness, she heard a voice scream her name.

* * *

It was Tate who had just entered the office with Vivien as Violet lost consciousness. Vivien was at a lost for words and she fainted when she saw her husband brutally kill their child. Tate grabbed her before she fell to the floor and pulled her to the old couch that had remained in the office. Then he turned around and faced Ben. Tate's face held the deadly look he had worn when he murdered all those kids at Westfield. He was unapologetically angry and murderous.

"You killed your own daughter."

Ben said nothing.

"Your own flesh and blood. I would NEVER do that. You're a monster."

Ben just smiled at Tate.

Tate tackled Ben and pinned him down to the ground. He punched the man in his face until his nose was broken. Then he grabbed Ben's hair and started smacking his head against the wooden floor. His anger floored his actions and he stopped only when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked back in a snap and noticed that it was Violet.

She was conscious again though the mark of strangulation had not yet faded from her neck. He became more enraged at the now dead man underneath him, but Violet stopped any impulse he had of further pummeling the man's face in. She grabbed his bloody hands and gave them a kiss. She followed this with a smirk. He gave her a knowing smile: their violence induced lust flared but they knew that this wasn't the moment to let their desires take over.

* * *

Vivien had been watching Violet calm Tate down. She smiled and truly noticed just how gentle those two were with one another. She watched as Violet helped Tate up and hugged him. Tate kissed Violet's fading purple bruise and said that he was sorry.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I've done it for you and you've done it for me. I know the impulse."-She laughed it off.

Vivien followed as Violet took Tate to the bathroom and started washing off the blood he had on his face and hands. It was a strange sight, she thought, that her daughter was cleaning up a man who had just bashed her father's brains in. Vivien smiled.

"Thank you, Tate."-The matriarch said.

Violet and Tate looked at her.

"For what?"-He said

"I've wanted to bash his face in for years."

All three laughed when she said that.

* * *

Ben walked towards them. All three became paralyzed when they saw the bloodied man. Vivien reacted in a second and slapped him.

"How _dare_ you hurt our child! I don't care what you think she's done but you should have _never_ done that. You've stopped being the Ben Harmon that I love and I don't know if I'll ever forgive you for this!"

"Fine. We'll work this out later, as we always do. Violet, I just wanted to say that you are a disgrace to this family. You are a traitor to me."

"Good. I want to be."-She said defiantly.

In the next second, Tate and the Harmon women said: "Go away!" in perfect unison.

From that moment on, Ben Harmon would no longer bother Violet and Tate.

* * *

**A/N: **_One more chapter left!_


	8. Spectrum: Kurt Cobain and Sylvia Plath

**A/N: **_So we've come to the end of the story. I'd really like to thank all of you who've read and reviewed. Especially those of you who've reviewed since the very beginning. I've re-read all the reviews and they all put smiles on my face. Hugs to Sarah, Jandy, Stella, B, Cappy and everyone else that I'm likely forgetting._**  
**

_Oh and snaps from the Snap Cup to Paisley for getting the Moonrise Kingdom reference in the last chapter._

_So now, without further ado, Tate and Violet's much deserved **uninterrupted** fluff._

* * *

Chapter Nine: Spectrum (Kurt Cobain and Sylvia Plath)

_When we first came here_

_We were cold and we were clear_

_With no colors on our skin_

_'Til you let the spectrum in_

_[…]_

_Say my name_

_And every color illuminates_

_We are shining _

_And we'll never be afraid again"-_Spectrum by Florence + the Machine

_Ooh ooh but you know I'm yours_

_Ooh ooh and you know you're mine_

_Ooh ooh and that's for all of time_

_[…]_

_Ooh wee-ooh I look just like Kurt Cobain_

_Oh oh and you're just like Sylvia Plath_

_I don't care what they say about us anyway_

_I don't care about that _- Buddy Holly by Weezer (slightly altered by yours truly)

* * *

Tate

L.A. 1994

Nothing mattered. Tate was, at this moment, devoid of feeling. It is like living inside a black hole. No light, nothing escapes. There _was _nothing. His existence was a waste of air and space, in his opinion. Before death he was a ghost of a boy and post death, he was just the physical manifestation of what he had been before. Nothing else remained.

Nothing.

...

Nothing.

...

Nothing.

...

No light. No life. No love. No color.

Empty.

...

Empty.

...

Empty.

And he didn't think it would ever change.

* * *

Violet

Boston 2010

Life was dull. It's not that she wasn't happy. She was as happy as she could be. Her parents seemed happy too; they were rejoicing over her mother's pregnancy. Things were as close to perfect in their house as they were in Leave it to Beaver house. Hell, she even did great in school.

But she was bored.

Bored.

...

Bored.

...

Bored.

Then there was the feeling that something was missing. Maybe it was all the music she listened to that made her feel that way…like there was a void. Maybe it was just her. No amount of studying or going out with "friends" made her feel any differently. It was like she was half of a whole. Her other half was lost. Absent.

Missing.

...

Missing.

...

Missing.

And she didn't think it was going to change.

* * *

Murder House

August 2026

It was Violet's birthday. Tate and Vivien had both gone out of their way to make the day special for Vi. Though Vivien and Tate hardly spoke after they had cleared the air between them, they knew that they should work together for this special occasion. Violet deserved to have a good day considering that every birthday since her death had been plagued with degrees of unhappiness. This time it would be different.

It was, after all, the only time after the Harmons had moved to L.A. that Violet felt and looked completely happy. Vi had resolved not to care about what her father said or did and Ben did his best by not interfering in her affairs. Vivien was always resolutely by her side and overlooked the bad that Tate had done just because he made Violet happy. So her parental situation was right where she wanted it to be and she was free to be with Tate. She harbored no guilt about it any longer. Considering that Violet was actually happy, it was only natural that the two people that she cared for the most did something special for her.

The first thing that Tate and Vivien had to take care of was to count the money they had collected over the years. The ghosts always stole a bit of money from owners, so that they had a decent amount of cash to spend on Halloween. After they counted, they figured that there was enough money to get what they wanted. They weren't planning to get her something extravagant but it would definitely put a smile on their girl's face.

Once that had been done, they contacted the only living human they knew. It seemed that no matter how much time passed, Constance avoided death with an iron fist. Tate told Vivien that he wouldn't be surprised if Constance was death's mistress.

And because Tate had such a furious animosity towards his mother, he let Vivien deal with her. Vivien put on her best face and gave Constance the exact amount of money she would need to get the presents for Violet.

The other thing they needed to do was dress the house up a bit. There hadn't been new owners in a year and a half, so the house was empty except for a few pieces of scattered furniture and the personal possessions that had been hoarded by ghostly residents. In a joint effort between the madly in love ghost boy, the doting matriarch and the diligent maid, the living room had been decorated so that it would fit the celebratory mood. They had taken care of the decoration diligently during the early hours of the morning.

Some hours later, it was Tate's job to wake Violet up.

* * *

He saw fit to wake her up in the best way possible. He was already lying next to her, so he positioned himself on top of her and started giving her sweet, tingling kisses all over her neck.

"Violet"-he said in a sing-song voice between one kiss and the next.

She groaned but kept her eyes shut. He went from kissing her neck, to peppering kisses all over her face.

"Wake up, birthday girl."

"…Don't want to."-She said, her voice heavily thickened with sleep.

Tate smiled. Violet wanted this done the hard way and he was definitely willing to play it that way. There _was_ something that she would want and it would definitely wake her up. She could ignore the kisses he gave her on her face and neck, but he wouldn't be ignored now. He got under the covers and moved down her body to pull her leggings down.

"What're you doin'?"-Violet said still half asleep.

Tate didn't answer. He just opened her legs slightly and placed kisses on her inner thighs. He worked his way up until he was dangerously close to her crotch. Once there, he flicked his tongue right at the joining of her leg and her panty covered cunt. Violet emitted a moan and her eyes popped open.

"I'm awake."-She said.

That, however, would not deter Tate. He wanted to tease her a bit more. He pulled her panties to one side and took her clit into his mouth. Violet couldn't help but react to that.

"I'm up! Oh, fuck!"-She said as Tate slipped two of his fingers inside her now dripping walls. When he heard that, he stopped.

"Happy birthday Vi."-He says with a smile.

"You asshole!"-She said and hit him playfully. He chuckled and when she was going to open her mouth again, he shut her up with a kiss.

"I'll make it up to you later."

She rolled her eyes but gave him a smile.

* * *

She really didn't know why Tate and her mother insisted on celebrating her birthday. She would never actually age, after all. But they insisted and she gave up. Though it did bother her that she had never celebrated Tate's birthday. She thought it was unfair. She vocalized the thought on various occasions and he ignored her. She expressed the thought again.

"It's not fair to you, Tate."

"I don't care about me, Violet. I'm happy just being with you. Besides, it's August, not January. You couldn't celebrate my birthday even if you tried. It wouldn't make sense."

"Can't I treat today like it's your birthday?"

"No. Today's about you."

"Fine. But when it's your turn you better not give me shit about how you don't care."

"I don't."

"But I do. So when it's _your _birthday, you are going to let me pamper you however I want. And you're going to let me wake up like you woke me up: I start blowing you and then I stop."

"Ok."-He said and gave her a peck. "Whatever you say."

"I mean it. That can be my present from you. You promise that I get to tease you but be _extremely_ nice to you on your birthday."

"I already got you a present."

She gave him a look. "I thought you said today was about me."

"It is."

"Then say yes."

"Alright Vi. You can 'pamper' me on my birthday."

She gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

Even though, in Violet's mind, the perfect birthday would mean that she never had to leave her room, Tate had other plans. It was a bit past noon and, though it took slight persuasion on his part, Tate finally got Violet to get dressed properly.

* * *

Tate led her to the living room and there she found Moira, her baby brother and her mother around a living room that was covered in nature decorations.

It was sweet that they worked with what little they had. There was some paint in the attic and there were old newspapers all over. Moira loved crafts and she took the opportunity to make the room look pretty for the 15-year-old ghost.

There were lilies, roses, tulips, dahlias, daisies and several other flowers surrounding the room. All of them had been made from newspaper and, though some of them had been heavily painted, a lot of them were left with the original print. Tate insisted that they would be more interesting that way. He thought Violet would love them in that raw state. When Violet looked up she noticed that hanging from the ceiling were paper birds. She hadn't wanted them to make a fuss but she loved this paper garden. It was unique, it seemed otherworldly and…it made her happy.

"Happy birthday, Violet!"-Vivien said handing the baby to Moira so that she could give her daughter a hug.

"Thanks mom. Moira."-Moira smiled at the girl in return.

"We had some things bought for you."-Mom said.

"You didn't have to do that. It could have waited until Halloween."

"I thought so too, but your mother and your little psychopath insisted. I agreed with them in the long run. Your mother, however, was the brave one."

"Brave?"-Violet asked confused by the wording.

"Yeah. Tate and Moira avoid Constance at all costs. I took that bullet."

That explained it. No one really wanted to deal with Constance.

"Wow. Go mom."

Vivien laughed. "It surprised me when she actually got everything I asked of her."

"I'm happy just being here in the paper wonderland. It looks great. Some of the paper looks ancient."-She said examining one of the dahlias.

"We used paper that's been in the attic for years. It's a miracle that most of it was in good condition."-Moira said. "We planned all of this out. I did the flowers."

"I took care of the birds."-Tate whispered in her ear. She felt herself smile.

_They can fly away when things get to crazy._

_I want you to be happy and free._

He was always trying to make her happy. Always trying to be romantic. Corny or not, it always worked.

"They did that and I put them all in place. I guess you can say it was a team effort."

Violet took in the scenery again. She walked to the center of the room and sat down on the bare spot in the paper crafted world. She looked up at the hanging birds and smiled.

* * *

"Here, Vi. I got this for you."-Vivien said as she sat down next to Violet and handed her a small box.

Violet eyed it curiously and opened it. Inside was a silver heart locked around a pretty silver chain. The outside of the locket was unadorned. Violet chuckled; her mother knew that she would prefer it that way even though they had never discussed lockets. She opened the heart and inside she saw a picture of herself and her mother. The picture had been taken before the miscarriage. It was a moment where everything was perfect between the two of them. The other side of the locket was empty: waiting to be decorated with a picture of someone she loves.

"I love it. Empty side and all."-She hugged her mother in thanks.

"That's where my present comes in."-Moira said.

"You got me something too?"

"Yes. It was easy to do so when your mother told me what she was getting you."

Vivien gave Violet the present that Moira had gotten her. This box was a big bigger than the previous one and it was wrapped with purple paper. Violet ripped at the paper and found an instant Polaroid camera.

"They still make these?"

"Yes. This isn't the newest model but it's still quite modern. It prints out the pictures and does all that computer stuff. Ingenious little thing. "

Violet looked at Tate. He was leaning against the door frame, watching her with enamored eyes. She gave him a small smile. Of course Moira would know what she'd fill the other side of the locket with if given the chance.

"Thanks Moira. I'll put it to good use."

"I'm sure you will."-Moira said in a cheeky tone.

"Moira!"-Vivien warned with wide eyes. Everyone laughed. "So…cake?"

"Cake?"

"You wanted strawberry cake."-Tate said.

"Huh?...Oh!"

It hit her. A few weeks ago, Violet had been craving strawberry cake. She didn't really know why but she did. As always, Tate had listened. Violet hadn't even paid that much attention to the craving since then. It was sweet that he had remembered.

"You have to look for it. It's somewhere among the flowers."-he said.

"Shit. That's going to take forever."

"No. Just think about Halloween."

He meant the black rose, of course. As if it were that easy to find a black rose in a roomful of newspaper flowers and birds as well as colored flowers and birds. There were hints of black here and there but she figured it would be hard to find. She got up from her spot and started looking…being careful not to break the flowers. While she did that, the other three knew that no part was complete without music. Tate handed Vivien the iPod that Violet still carried around and it was plugged in to the stereo Violet had kept.

* * *

Moira took the baby out for a bit and Vivien just gave Tate a smile as she exited the room. Violet kept looking.

"Are you sure I'm looking for a black rose?"-She said.

"Yes."

"I can't find it."

"You're forgetting details."

"You said Halloween. You gave me a black rose."

"I did."

Violet realized. "But you didn't give it to me here."

"No."

"Ok."

She grabbed his hand and they headed toward the basement. In the process, Ben appeared and was going to open his mouth to speak but before he could, he was stopped by a firm 'Go away' from the two teenagers. Once in the basement, Tate flicked the lights on and Violet saw her mother holding the black rose…atop a big cupcake. She smiled.

"This is your present? I love it."

He said nothing. Violet walked over to her mother who gave her the cupcake.

"This is getting excessive."

"There's just one more thing."-Tate said. "I don't care if you think it's corny. I just want you to have it."

He walked over to her and asked her to hold out her left hand. She properly gripped the cupcake with her right and gave him her hand. Tate placed a small ring on the palm of her hand. He wanted to put it on her finger but he was afraid of how she would react…it was meant for her ring finger after all.

Violet looked at the ring and then at Tate. "What is this?"

"A ring."

"No, I mean…what's this supposed to be?"

"Whatever you want it to be."

Violet considered this for a few seconds. "Put it on my finger, Tate."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Tate grabbed the ring from her hand and put it on her ring finger. He kissed her firmly and said: "Happy thirtieth, Violet."

She smiled as she gathered some frosting on her finger and put it on his nose. He laughed.

* * *

January 2027

Violet had originally planned to pamper Tate for his fiftieth birthday, but she changed her mind and decided to do something else. Something that he would want more than being pampered. She had given it much thought after they had joked about eloping in Vegas last Halloween. Months later, when they celebrated Christmas by making love in front of the fireplace and then wrapping a blanket around themselves to cuddle, Violet just knew.

She talked to her mother, told her father what she was doing because she wanted to show common courtesy and asked Moira to officiate. During the dawn of his birthday, Violet kissed him gently and quietly left while he was still sleeping.

When Tate woke up, he knew right away that Violet wasn't in bed. He always knew when she was missing and was actually surprised that he hadn't woken up when she left this time. In her place he found a note.

_You said you would let me pamper you for your birthday. I did you one better._

_I love you,_

_Violet._

_P.S. Sorry this means you don't get blue balled from an unfinished blowjob. Find Moira. _

* * *

Tate laughed at her note, got up and followed the instructions. He went around the house in search of Moira and found her in the office.

"Good, you've arrived on time. You need to change."

"Change for what?"

"You just need to change."

"Into what?"

"Other clothes."

"I think the ones I have on are fine."

"It's not what she wants."

"What _who_ wants?"

"Violet."

"I thought this was supposed to be my birthday."

"Believe me, this is the only thing that could be considered a mild inconvenience for you today."

"She planned something big?"

"You could say that. And it's not that you're required to wear formal attire. Violet merely requested that you wear one of those striped sweaters of yours. Preferably the green one from the first time you met, she said."

"Ok, then."

"After you change, go out to the gazebo. That's all."

* * *

He did as he was told. He was sure that whatever Violet had in store for him was worth all the mystery. He went outside and around the gazebo were a few of the residents of the Murder House: Chad, Patrick, Travis, Elizabeth, Beau Lorraine, Margaret, Angela and, of course, Vivien and the baby. Under the gazebo, however, was Moira standing next to a glowing Violet. She was always beautiful to him but the dress she had on made her look almost angelic. It was a white lace dress and over it she wore one of her long cardigans. If he didn't know any better, he would say that he was about to get married.

He walked over to Violet and asked: "Are we getting married or something?"

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. You're smarter than that."

She gave him a peck. "Happy birthday, you old man."

"Hey! Fifty isn't that old."

"Not when you don't look a day over seventeen."

He laughed. "So how are we getting this show on the road?"

"So eager to be married to me."

"Yes. Very."

Moira couldn't contain herself from emitting a kind smile. When the two teens looked her way, she commenced the ceremony.

"Today we're doing the impossible. Two ghosts are getting married. Two souls who found each other under the strangest of circumstances and who went through a lot of trouble to even allow themselves to be together. They've fought against their better judgment and her family's expectations to find common ground. This isn't a normal union under any circumstances, but it is still a union. So today, we unite Tate Langdon and Violet Harmon. Your vows, Mr. Langdon…"

Tate looked at Violet and thought about what he wanted to say. He thought it would be better if he spoke the absolute truth...without embellishments. "I love you. You've forgiven me when I didn't deserve it, been with me when I should have been left to rot and given me everything I've ever wanted. You've given me love. I promise to love you unconditionally and eternally."

Moira nodded. "Miss Harmon…"

"You've always done everything you could to make my happy. You are perfectly imperfect and I love you for it. I promise to always be your light, through the best of times and the worst of times. I'll love you eternally."

* * *

Just when Moira was about to declare the vows exchanged and all but name them married, Ben barged in.

"You can't marry him, Violet."

Ben was about to charge at the groom like an elephant in a stampede. That being said, he never even got the chance to step on the gazebo. Hayden stabbed the man until he fell unconscious to the ground and then kicked him away.

"You better wrap it up there, you old bag. We don't want him to wake up."

"Why Hayden?"-Vivien asked, voicing the question on everyone's minds.

"He waited for her. Like he said he would. He deserves his happiness."-Hayden said.

* * *

Moira got back to the ceremony. "The vows have been exchanged and so have the rings. I declare these two husband and wife, partners for eternity. You may kiss the bride."

They smiled as Tate framed her jaw and gave her a long, loving kiss. Now, Violet was his in every way that she _could_ be his and he was hers in every way that he could be and wanted to be. It was definitely the best birthday he had ever had. They were so lost in their kiss and so immersed in their own little world that they couldn't hear the 'guests' clapping or see Vivien's crying face or register Chad bawling his eyes out while he slapped Patrick in the face. They were living in their very own movie...and this time, Juliet woke just in time to stop Romeo from drinking his poison. When they broke apart, they held hands as he said:

"Best birthday I've ever had."

* * *

Their wedding night was passionate and loving. Neither had thought that they would ever get married. In life they weren't interested and in death it seemed implausible, but somehow they had still done it. Tate kissed her everywhere and made love to her enthusiastically, all the while contemplating how right Violet Langdon sounded and how well it rolled off his tongue. She, in turn slapped him playfully and laughed when he kept calling her Mrs. Langdon. She would never admit that she liked the name Violet Langdon out loud. She knew that he knew even if she didn't say it, however.

Hours later, when Violet wrapped her arms around Tate and the two started dozing off, they felt perfectly content. Nothing would ever get in their way again that they couldn't handle. In each other's arms they were safe and fearless. Death had been their beginning and eternity was now their playground.

_The End_


End file.
